The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1898-12-15
THE PIECE OF GOLD
S sGeGGeGGGGgGGGG@eGG Gse@G&

NhTHEN Lucien Hem saw his las'
w hardred-franc note gripped l'y
the banhkeeper's rake, and rose from
the roulette table, where he had lest
the last fragments Of his little fortune,
collected for this supreme struggle,
he felt gi':dy and thought he was So
ing to iall.
With a dizzy head and totterir;, legs
he threw himself down upon the broad
leatherE >ettee surrounding the pay
table.
For some minutes he gazed vacan'ly
on the cIandestire gambling house, in
which he had squandered the best
years OF his youth, recognized the raw
aged faces of the gamblers, crudeiy
lighted ur by the three large shaded
lamps; listened to the light jingle Of
gold on the cloth-covered table; felt
that he was ruined, lost; recollected
that he had at home the pair of regu-
la,ion pistols which his father, Gen.
Hem, then simple captain, had used
so we'll IN the attack of Zaatcha; then,
overcome by fatigue. he sank into a
profound sleep.
When be arose, with a parched
mouth, he saw by the clock that he had
slept for barely half an hour. and felt
an imperious need for breathing he
night air. The clock hands marked a
quarter before midnight.
At tina. moment old Dronski-a pill
lar of the gambling house, the classic
pole. wearing the thyeadbare hooded
woolen cloak, ornamented all over wi; h
grease estains-approached Lucien, ard
m.lttereI few words in his grizzlet'
beard
Lien! me fve-franc piece, mon
sielr. It's now two days since I've
stirred out of the club, and for two
days the IT has never turned up.
Taught at me if you like, but III suffer
my hand to be cut off if that number
does n IT turn up on the stroke of mid
night"
Lucien Hem shrugged his shoulders.
lie had not even enough in his pcche t
to meet this tan, which the freGrert-
ers CT the place called "te Poles hun
drel sous" he passed into the ante
chamber. took his hat and fur cost
and descended the stairs with feverish
rapidly.
Since four o'clock, when Lucien had
shu: himself up in the gaming house
srow lad fallen heavily, and the street
"a street in the center of Paris, very
narrow. and built with great houses
on either side-was completely white
In the calm sky. blue black. the cold
stars glittered.
The ruined gambler shuddered I'M
der his furs and walked away, his mind
still teeming with thoughts of de-
spair, and more than ever returning
to the remembrance of the case of
pistols which awaited him in one of
his drawers; but after moving forward
few st"ps, lie stopped suddenly be-
fore heartwringing sight.
On stone bench, placed according
to cid custom near the door of a man
sior., little girl of six or seven years
of sge, dressed in a ragged black frock.
wa. sitting in the snow. She was sleep
ing- in spite of the cruel cold, in an
attitude of frightful fatigue and ex-
haustion; her poor little head and tiny
shoulder pressed as if they had sunk
into an angle of the wall, and reposing
on the icy stone. One of her wooden
shoes had fallen from her foot, which
hung help!es.ly and lugubriously be-
fore her.
With a mechanical gesture Lucien
put his hand to his waistcoat pocket,
but a moment afterward he ollect ed
that he had not been able to find even
a forgotten piece of 20 sous, and had
been obliged to leave the club without
giving the customary "tip" to the club
attendants; yet. moved by an instructive
feeling Of pity. he approached the little
girl, and might, perhaps, have taken
her in his arms, and given her night s
lodging, when in the wooden shoe
which had slipped fyom her foot he
saw something glitter.
He stopped. 1t was gold coin.
Some charitable person, doubtless
some lady, had passed by, had seen on
this night the little wooden shoe lying
in front of the sleeping child, and. re-
calling the touching legend, had placed
thefe, with a secret hand. magnificent
offe-;ng. so that this poor abandoned
one might believe in presents made fcr
tho infant Saviour, and preserve, in