Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1897-12-23

, in his pocket to pay the tax known by
the house habitues as 1.-THE Poles
Pence"
He passed into the hall, put on his
| hat, his coat, then descended the stairs
with the haste of fevered person.
During the four hours he had been in
| doors heavy snow had fallen and the
street, central one, walled in by high
I houses, was all white. Multitudes of
cold stars shone in the blue-black purg-
ed sky.
The ruined man walked rapidly, re-
| volving desperate thoughts in his mind,
and was more than ever drawn to the
pistol box in his dressing case drawer.
Suddenly he stopped. He was con-
! fronted by heart-breaking scene.
| On a stone bench, placed according
to the old-time custom beside the
monumental door of a palace, little
girl Of or Z, barely covered by rag
ged black frock, was sitting in the
snow. She had gone to sleep there, in
spite Of the cold, in painful attitude
of utter WEAKNESS, with her poor lit
tie head and shoulder propped in an
angle of the icy stone.
One of her old shoes had fallen from
the foot which hung over and lay in the
| snow.
Lucien de Hem felt mechanically for
his vest pocket, and was suddenly re-
minded that moment before he had
not even found forgotten franc, nor
a pourboire for the valet.
However, stirred by an instructive
pity. he approached the little girl, and
would perhaps have carried her in his
arms to give her night shelter, had
he not seen something shining in the
old shoe as it lay in the snow.
He bent over. 1t was gold louis.
Some charitable person, woman,
doubtless, in passing by this Christ
mas eve had seen the shoe in front
of the sleeping child, and had remem-
bered the touching legend. This gen.
erous aims had been given so that the
little one might believe in the gifts of
the holy child, and in spite of her dis
tress retain some hope in the goodness
of Providence.
A louis! 1t meant many days of
plenty for the beggar, and I4ucien was
about to waken and tell her so, when
he heard voice in his ear, drawing,
thick voice. mumbling:
Here are two days since I have been
out of the club. You can cut off my
fist if II does not come out when the
clock strikes midnight"
Then the young man Of %, coming
OF honest stock with magnificent mil
itary record, never failing in honor,
this young man suddenly conceived a
dreadful thought, fell prey to a wild,
hysterical, monstrous desire. Assuring
himself with one glance that the street
was. deserted he swiftly stopped, ad-
vanced trembling hand, and stole the
louis from the old shoe. With wild
rush he reached the club again, cleared
the stairs in one impetuous rush, flung
open the door of the reeking hall, and
threw the gold piece on the green, just
as the clock chimed the first stroke of
midnight.
Cali on IT,"
| Seventeen won.
With a turn of his hand he showed
the SO louis on red.
| Red won.
He left e louis on the same color.
Again it appeared. Three times he put
up the doubled stakes with the same
luck. There was now great heap of
gold and bank notes in front of him,
and he began frantically to sow them
broadcast over the table. Every COM
bination favored him. The little ivory
ball jumping about the divisions of the
roulette seemed to be magnetized by
the gamblers gaze, and obeyed it. In
10 plays he had recovered the few
thousand francs, his last resource, that
he had lost early in the evening. BY
punting 200 or 300 louis at once he
would soon have far more than the
heritage he had fooled away.
In his haste to play he had kept
on his heavy coat, and the great pock-
cts were already crammed with rolls
o. bank notes and gold pieces. He now
had to stuff them into his inside peck
cts, his vest and trouser pockets, his
cigar case, his handkerchief. and ev-
arything that could hold them. He still
| 1layed. He still won: like q lunatic.