Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1898-11-12

full idea. He was seized with mad,
| hysterical, monstrous desire. After
| glancing on all sides, to make sure
that he was alone in deserted street,
he bent his knee, and, carefully out
| stretching his trembling hand, he stole
| the gold piece from the fallen shoel
Hurrytng, then, with all his speed,
he returned to the gambling house,
scaled the stairs two and three at a
stride, and entering the accursed play
| room as the first stroke of midnight
was sounding, placed the piece of gold
on the green cloth, and cried:
81 stake on the Ill"
The II won.
With turn of the hand Lucien
pushed the sc louis to the "red."
The "red" won.
He left the 72 louis on the same color.
The "red" again won.
Twice he "doubled"-three times
| always with the same success. He had
now before him a pile of gold and
notes, and began to scatter stakes all
over the board. All his bets were for
| tunate. His luck was unheard of,
supernatural. 1t might have been i'm
agined that the little ivory ball dane
ing in the roulette was magnetized,
fascinated by the eyes of this player,
and obedient TO him. In dozen, stakes
he had recovered the few wretched
| thousand-franc notes, his last re-
sources, which he had lost at the begin
ming of the evening.
Now, stalking 200 or 300 louis at a
time, and aided by a strange run of
luck, he was on the way of regaining,
and more, besides, the hereditary cap
ital he had squandered in so few years,
and reconstituting his fortune.
In his eagerness to return to the
gaming table, he had not taken off his
fur coat. Already he had crammed
the larger pockets with bundles of
notes and rouleaux Of gold pieces, and,
not knowing where to heap his win
| nings, he now loaded the inner and ex-
terror pockets of his frock coat, the
pockets Of his vest and trousers, his
handkerchief-everything that could
be made to hold his money.
And still he played, and still he won,
like n madman, like drunken man!
Only something like a red-hot iron
was in his heart, and he thought of
nothing but of the little mendicant
sleeping in the snow, whom he had
robbed.
as she still at the same spot? Sure
ly she is still there? Presently-yes,
when one o'clock strikes-I swear it'll
l will quit this place. 1 will take her
Slaa nj n n rrp nd har 70
my home. / will put her into my warm
bed. 1 will bring her up, give her q
dowry, love her as if she were my own
daughter, care for her always, al
ways!"
But the clock struck one, and then a
quarter, and half, and three-quar-
ters.
And Lucien was still seated at the
Internal table.
At length, one minute before two
o'clock, the keeper of the bank rose
abruptly and said in loud voice:
"The bank is broken, gentlemen
enough for to-day"
With a bound Lucien was on his
feet. Roughly pushing aside the gam
blers who surrounded and regarded
him with envious admirat ton, he hur-
ried away quickly. sprang down the
stairs, and ran all the way to the
stone bench. In the distance by the
light of the lamp he saw the little
girl.
Heaven be praised!" he said. "she
Is still there"
He approached her. He took her
hands.
"oh, how cold she is, poor little
one!"
He took her under the arms and
raised her, so that he might carry her.
Her head fell back without her awak-
ing.
"How soundly children of her age
sleep"
He pressed her against his bosom to
warm her, and, seized by a vague dis
quietude and with view to rousing
her out of this heavy slumber, he
kissed her eyelids.
Then it was that he perceived with
terror that these eyelids were half
open, showing the eyeballs-glassy,
lightless, motionless. Upon his brain
flashed horrible suspicion. He placed
his mouth close to that of the little
girl. No breath came from 1t.
While with the gold piece, which
he had stoHn from the mendicant, Lu-
cien had won a fortune at the gam
ing table, the homeless child had died
died of cold.
At the present time Lucien Hem is
lieutenant in the First regiment of
Chasseurs d'Afrique. He has only his
pay to live upon, but he contrives to
make it suffice, being a steady officer
and never touching a card. It appears
even that he has found the means
of saving, for the other day at Algiers
one of his comrades, who was follow
ing him at few PAGES distant in one
of the hilly streets of the Kasha, saw
him give something in charity to a
little Spanish girl sleeping in door
way, and had the indiscretion to see
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