The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1900-05-26
GAMBLER AND rHR WORN.
A Speculative scheme rhAt ~srksd
Well fer AwAiie. Bat Result
"a In Disaster.

A gentleman who lives In the Blue
grass, and who has been = very sx-
tenSive traveller. has . silver service,
80 magnificent in design and heavy In
weight that Its peers In the whole
world may be numbered on the m
gers Of one hand. The owner 4 even
now, when past middle age, = good
fellow" who loves eonviviAlity, and
no game IL too hazardous for him II
he has the amount Of the stakes.
He tAkes pleasure In telling the his
tory Of hiS service, Ays the Louis
Vile Post, a. IL eoncerns the most
andacio1s game Of chance he ever Wit
messed.
when I was In Bolivia. some years
ago" he always begins, Il got In with
q crowd Of men. English and natives,
whose passion for gambling knew no
bounds. Strange As II may seem,
none OF them knew poker. and l
made myself solid with them BY
teaching them. but their great game
Was roulette. There was a little shop
In BogatA. where they had a min
iature Monte Carlo. and many nights
did we spend around the great wheel,
with our money and prospects hang
ing on the black or red. The wheel
was entirely made Of wood, and when
1t va spun around . cover Was put
over the machine, 20 that they could
keep on betting when II had ceased
10 turn. There IL . worm down there
in that climate that gets into furni-
ture and borss until nothing but
shell IL left You may at on . chair
that looks perfectly strong, but at
the first touch It oollapsea. This
seema Irrelevant. but II 10 not. -
you may see later. In fAct that
worm plays the title role In the
tragedy / am going TO tell
There WA . wealthy Bolivian
planter who had been . general In
the war between Bolivia and Chill
back In the early 'sos. He was never
absent Q night from our games, but
he would frequently stand about for
Q week and never make Q bet larger
than $40. Then he would suddenly
cry out Just a. the operator was
about 10 lift the cover and register
the highest bet the house would per-
NIT. Next he would place all the
money he could and takers for among
the gentlemen present. Before the
season was far advanced he had won
great sums, and va bad all felt the
results Of his freakish luck. II seems
that when he played 7-biAek he could
not lose. and he seemed TO realize It.
for when he did cali that number be
would put all he owned In the balance.
Still he was Q gentleman and Q
famous duelst. and no one cared 10
question his methods. Il went on
this way for two months. Then one
night the wheel stopped. and there
was the silence Of the prairies In the
room. We could hear the ball fall
into the compartment distinotiyi we
could hear the distant tinkiine Of q
mandolin. The planter leaped up o.
from q oatslepsy: 7-bisck. senors. ]
will take all any Of you. or all Of you,
will bet Well, I had been winning
strong. and was so much to tbs good
that I was reckleaa
"'Five dollsrs.' I said.
GOOD, senor,' he replied.
He placed his entire fortune In
different wagers. There were 9 num-
Der Of strangers present. and they
all seemed hIg flush. Then slowly,
as a priest officiating at some solemn.
barbarte ceremony, tho banker re
moved the top We all stood for q
moment, and the tension was suoh
that a carriage wheel on the cobbls-
stones outside made us all start.
Red came the announcement.
The Bolivian was white 90 snow.
but bis voice was unshaksn - he
said; Gentlemen, you shAD all be
paid. As for me, l am ruined
That nigh. he shot himself, and
his win, which had been written Jus,
before his death. arranged for the
payment Of all his debts. 1 wss to re
ceive the service for my share, though
II 10 worth much more. But what !
valued much more than that waa 9
note, in which he expressed his at
tachment for me, and asked me 10
accept the silver as a gift and not q
debt.
He left also q curious manuscript
written some time before, which
seemed to be . sort Of private Journal.
He stated In this that his ears were
20 accurate that be could detect the
difference between the fall Of . pin
and . needle. One night. 20 he says,
he heard the ball fall into the com
partment with Q hollow thud, and
when the machine was opened he
made note Of the number and color.
'T-blsek.' Later, when alone for q
moment. he foud that the Aforesaid
worm had bored under that com.
partment He sounded the sxcava-
ton with . straw, and found that II
extended no farther than that one
number. Then all he had 10 DO wa
TO listsn. and when his acute hear
ing told him that his number had
come. to get all the money possbl,
on II.
yes. gentleman. he had all his
plans laid TO perfection; there va,
only n weak spot In his calculs.
tons. He forgot that those worm.