The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-11-01
MONTE CARLO.
CHAPTER XXI.

His naJace had been torn down, the
decorations in his honour had dlsap'
reared. the colors red ana rose were no
LONGER exhibited in the shop windows,
for Nice had assumed her normal aspeet
of aristocratic dignity.
One afternoon d week afterwards, Aaane
raluotantIy ACCOMPANIED her father and
Zertho to Monte Carlo.
When a. luncheon the visit had been
suggested by the Prince she at once an
nounced her intention OF staying at nome.
Truth to tell, those great gaming rooms
with their wildly excited bhrongs pos
sessed for her too many painful memories.
At length, however, after much persuas'
ion. she was induced to dress ana accom-
pany them.
She chose white costume, with large
white hat relieved by violets, and q mar
row belt of violet satin TO match--a plain,
fresh locking gown which suited her
beauty admirably, and within an hour
fheyzhad assembled the steps OF the great
white casino with its handsome facade,
and entered the long bureau to exchange
their Yisiting-cardS for one or the PINK
cards of admission. The CLERK at me
counter, whose duty it is to examine the
dress of the visitors and their cards. at
once recognising the party, shook hands
heartily with BROKER and the
Prince expressing pleasure at seeing them
again. +ho
Eyes, we We returned, you see, tne
Captain answered, jocularly. Always
back to Monte Carlo, you know"
well l wish MessieaIs oil good for
tune,'' laughed the stout, round-faoed
man, ''and also Mademolseile, OF course,
he added, bowling, his face beaming with
good huinour, as instead Of writing out
formal admission cards, he handed them
three of the special yellow tickets issued
by the Administration OF the Cercie to lts
Well-known habitues.
A gay cosmopolitan crowd in Paris
made gowns and well-cut suits, with
bulky purses in their hands. struggled
behind, eager to obtain tickets, therefore
they at once deposited their sticks and
sunshade, and passing across the great
hall. thronged with well-dressed people,
approached the long polished doors guard
ed by attendants in bright livery OF blue
and gold. Here again one of the men
wished the Captain "good-day,' the door
opened and they found themselves once
more. after many months, inside the lofty
well-remem bered rooms where so many
fortunes had been lost and won.
Down the vista from the entrance could
be sean room after room, Respondent in
Gilt decorations, polished floors, ceilings
Of ornamental glass, and many beautiful
paintings by Feyen, Perrin, and Jundt.
each room filed with eager, anxious
gam blers providing around the oblong
TOlQ6-9G-uOlE ttUlGSs 4uO Al
of voices, the jingle of coin, the rustic OF
notes the click of the roulette ball, and
the monotonous cries of the, croupiers
combined to produce a verlta bic Babel OF
noise. while the heat on that bright sunny
March afternoon seemed overpowering.
But those sitting around the tables, or
standing behind. cared nothing for the
world outside, so absorbed were they in
the chance of the red or the black. The
sun was excluded by blinds closely drawn
and the long windows We're all curtalned
in black OF blue muslin, with handsome
patterns worked thereon, SO tnat those
walking upon the terrace by the blue
sunlit sea could obtain no glimpse OF
what was going on within. The place
was closed, and there was about it that
faint odour which it ever retains, the
combined smell of perspiration and per-
fume.
From the moment Lame placed foot
upon the polished floor she regretted that
she had come With that weiI-remem-
bered scene before her thousand bitter
memories instantly surged through her
brain. she hated herself. Around her
as they approached the first table in the
Moorish room were the same types OF
people that she knew, alasi too well; the
fora of the Riviera, the world ins which
she had for years been compelled to live.
Among those sitting around, were men,
weary and haggard-eyed with those three
deep lines across the brow which habitual
gamblers SO quickly develop. and heavy
eyed w0men who had concealed their pale
ness beneath their rouge. OF this class OF
frenzied humanity, she reflected, she her
self was. There had been a time not long
ago when she, too, had sat at that table
prompting her father, SO metimes fiinglng
on coin or notes for him, dragging in his
winnings with the little ebony rake, or
keeping an account in her tiny memoran.
dun book OF the various numbers as they
turned up, SO as to assist him in his
Epeculatlons.
Unlike these declasse women she hated
play. The life was to her detestable. fShe
had, it was true, moved in their world,
but thanks to her fathers care she had
retained her goodness and purity, and had
never been of it. Well she knew the ter
rible tension each spin of that little ivory
roulette ball caused among that eager
crowd, an anxiety which furroWed the
brows, which caused the hands to trem-
BILE, and sapped all youth and gaiety and
life. She, although young and fair, had
Witnessed life there in its every aspect
She had herself experienced the terrible
frenzy of excitement; she had felt the des-
peration of abiect despair. She had seen
dozens, nay hundreds, come there rich
and respected, to depart broken and
ruined she had witnessed more than one
NOlHaH GEUW 81 u6SESEau0 OtOE IlEL 4OSaoS
that she had tainted at the table, and
once beside her at that very table there
had sat man, young, cookbook ing, and
well-dressed, who lost and lost, and con-
tinued to lose throughout the long. hot
day, until with a low imprecation he at
length threw down his last hundred franc
note on the "impair." He lost, then rose
unsteadily from the table, while haif-a-
dozen others struggled to obtain his place.
An hour later she had risen and gone
into the garden to obtain air, but scarce
iy had she walked dozen yards when
two attendants passed her by carrying her
fellow gam bier 5 lifeless form. He had
shot himself.
This tragic incident, BY no means I'M
common, though SO frequently hushed up,
had SO unnerved her that for many weeks
her father could not induce her to enter
the Casino, but gradually because with
q gambler belief in talismans, he de-
clared that when she accompanied him
Fortune was always on his side. she again
vent with him, to spend long, anxious,
breathless hours in the crowded place,
where bright happy girls staked their
fve-frane pieces just for the purpose of
saying they had done SO, and rubbed
shoulders with the most notorious of the
r.,onda and vvhara h0pant MAN r1r,