The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-11-05
Chapter XIII.
IIP-SALVE.

In a room on the second floor of an old,
high, dingy, looking house in one Oh one
dingiest back streets near Jne mower
market in Nice sat a man anu woman.
The room was lofty, with a ceiling Wnlc1
had once been painted but had now laueu
and fallen away in great takes, ana u, Inc
furniture was frayed and shabby. me
shutters of the two long windows were
closed, and the place was lit BY a cheap
shaded lamp suspended in the centre, 1Is
light being too dim to sufficiently 1l!uml-
nate the whole apartment Beneath the
circle of light stood a table marked IN
squares, and in it's cent re a roulette.
The man, lying Iazily back in an arm,
chair, smoking long cigar, was about
thirty five, dark. with wel-cut aqu1l1ne
features, in which craft and intelligence
were com bined, a small pointed NOUS
taohe, and pair of keen black eyes full
of suspicion and cunning HIS COM
panion was old. perhaps sixty, lean, i'll.
attired and wizened, her face being almost
brown as toad's back, her body
bent, and her voice weak and croaking
s'They sat opposite to one another, talking
Around the walls there were tackled copies
ofsa leafiet headed. in huge black capitals
"The Agony of Monte Carlo, which de-
clared that the advertiser, an Englishman
who offered his services to the public, had
Yanquished the hazard, and was the only
person who could gain Indefinitely ct
either roulette or ,trente-et-quarante He
had solved the puzGling porblem OF "How
to Win.
The Frsrch in which the circular was
printed was not remarkable for its gram
mar or diction, but it was certainly 9
brilliant specimen Of advertisement, and
wall calculated to entrap tho rnwary.
Copies Of 1t had for several weeks been
widely distributed in the streets OF Nice,
flung into passing cabs, or handed to those
who took their daily airing on the prone
made, and it had given rise to good deal
of comment. Among many other re-
kable statements, it was alleged that
the discoversr of this infallible method
had gained five hundred francs an hour
upon an ordinary capital OF five francs,
and SO successful had been his play THAI
the Administration of the Casino, In Or
der to avert their own ruin. had denied
him any further card of admission. The
remarkable person declared further that
so certain was he of success that hs WAS
prepared to place any stake against tnat
of any person who doubted, or elbow the
player to turn the roulette himself. 10
those who arranged to play under his al
reotlon the circular promised the modest
gain of one million two hundred thousand
| francs month Truly. the remarkable
circular was aptly headed 1.-THE Agony or
Mont6 Carlo"
/ line IQVGQU1r was Uu5 uttth-OyOu AAihA
with the cigar and it was upon the table
| before him that he gave Illustrations OF
his marvellous discovery to his clients.
All the systems of jacquard, Vaucanson.
Fulton. Descartes and Copernic were de-
cIared to be mere jumbles of false pIfnc1-
pies, and held up to derision. This was
| :. ually infaliihle. Nice had heard OF @
4 many methods of winning many be-
i J, but never one put forward py an
! !. yentor suffi oiently confident to offer to
| bear the losses hence, from the hours OF
| ten to twelve, and two to six, the foppish-
| " attired man who declared in his circu-
lar. "Je suis La force. pAroe que Js suis La
verite' was kept busy instruoting anna
ter gamesters how to act when at Monte
Carlo, and receiving substantial ices 1or
so doing.
! The clocks had chimed ten, and the
street was quiet. The old woman, who
with difficulty had been reading the feuil-
Teton in the "Peti5 Nicois," yawned,
flung down her paper, ana glanced over
at the cosmopolitan sdventurer who, Wsth
his head thrown back, was staring at the
ceiling, humning in not unmusicaa
voice the catchy refrain of Varney's popu-
lar "Serenade da Pave
Sois bonnie, O ma cheIo tneonnue,
| Pour qui j'ai al souySnt chantel
| Ton Orlando est la bienvenue,
Eais-moi Ia charlie
Soils bonnie, ma chere inconnue,
| Pour qui j'ai solvent os1artel
| Devant moi, devant mol
Sois Ia bienvenue
| So ght-hearted he seemed that possibly
he had succeeded in fnventfng some other
system whereby the pockets OF the bong.
suffering public might be touched. snq'
denly q footstep on the landing outssne
| caused them both to start and exchange
1 quick g1anoes. Than the bell rang, and
1 x IF do hou md rOQ
opened the door.
Their visitor was Zertho. He was in
evening clothes, having left the theatre
early 70 stroll round there.
well, Mother Valentino he exclaimed
in French, tossing his hat earelessly upon
the table, and sinking into chair.
Rheumatism still bad-eh?"
"Ah, yes, M sieur.' croaked the old
woman In the Provencal patois, "still
very bad" and grunting, she rose and
hobbled out of the room.
"And how's business?" Zertho inquired
of the other.
"pretty fair. Lots of mugs in the town
lust now,' he smiled, speaking in Cook
ney English; = .,,,,4 ~.
checklist bit of literature I've ever come
across" he said, nodding towards ons Of
the remarkable documents tackled
upon the wall.
| "It has drawn 'eIn like honey draws
fiies." said the other, smiling and regard
ing it with pride 'Tke offer to pay the
losses does It, You can always make a lie
truth by lying large enough. y
He had resumed his seat, and was puff.
ling coptentedly at his cigar.
fits really marvellous specimen Of
bluff.' Zertho observed in tone of ad
p.iration. ''Wben first saw it feared
that.you had been a bit too extravaganza
in your promises. Z"
"1he digger your promise the greater
your success. I've always found it the
same with all the wheezes I've worked, .
he replied 81 saw you driving with
Brokers daughter few days ago. You
seem to be having an uncommonly good
time of it - he added.
"Can't complain" Zsrtho said, leaning
back with a self-complacent air. "Patrl
oian life suits me after being go many
years an outsider"
"No doubt it is pleasant" his compan'
ion answered with meaning look, Il
one can completely bury the past.
Whether your wash
III he done at home or else