El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-04

we presented our passports. We pass
ed over and breathcd the comparative
| IL free air OF Russia. Our first duty
when we were in kiakta was to &C
straight to the governor and lay ouI
! complaint before him. He was agitat
| ed when he heard OF the ceremony al
the frontier. and told us that the Bud
dhist priest had put into circulation two
! coins which had received the sun gods
! course and that these coins would
circulate throughout the world. harm
less TO everybody except the two they
were destined for. The instant pos
session of either of these by the person
cursed would mean immediate destruc-
ton.
Nor was this all. the coins might not
| come to us as brass cash. they might
come to us as a kopeck piece. or as q
! ruble. as marks or pfennigs. as francs
| or confines. as anything. wherever II
might be. We should never know
when they were coming: we should
take them in the ordinary way; we
should handle them. but only for one
moment. the next moment we should
be dead
/ One day Tom sent for me. and Ii was
to tell me- that he was going to he
married. This struck me as something
peculiar for I had thought Tom Nor
! ton was one OF the last men likely to
{ fall I'm love. The wedding duly came
/ OF, everybody was pleased. and Tom
7 and his bride went away to the south
4 of France. A few more weeks rolled
| by and Tom returned. There was to
be a reception at their London house.
and the Invitation which was sent me
was one which l could not we'll refuse.
In the evening 1 had the opportunity
| of a chat with Tom. We had gone out
on the balcony. which overlooked the
garden, and there 1 purposely made
reference to the superstition which he
had for the llama's coin
Perhaps" said I, now that you
have gone unscathed all these years,
you are beginning to lose faith in the
potency of that prophecy"
well. to tell you the truth" said
Tom. 81 am getting a little shaky
about II. and when one begins to rem
son superstition on any subject Is like
~ to get knocked out 1t has struck
me that. after all. IL may he but mere
foolery"
We entered the room once more. but
1 was dying for a smoke. and, making
some excuse. I slipped away to the
smoking ROOM I had been sitting there
about five minutes when Tom Morton
came In.
What do you think p he said. MY
wife has got this Monaghan story into
her head so much that she is perfectly
ridiculous She has been telling every
body about IL, and. OF course, they are
all laughing. and the worst of It all Is
that she is laughing with them at me.
But come, come. old fellow. i want to
show you something
! rose, threw my cigarette end away
and followed him. We went along the
corridor to the drawing room. which
was crowded. and even as we entered
! heard Mrs. Mortons voice.
81 really do believe II will be such
fun" she was saying. Here comes
Tom, and now we will try a coin,
II you please. from each OF you. Let
me see-how many are there here?-
20. Good, Then / want 20 coins.
Now. Tom" she said. take off that
wretched glove and let us demonstrate
that you can touch money with your
ungloved hand"
Tom was pale. and ! saw his brow
ed something. but what 1T was was lost
in the laughter and banter which went
around the room. With a quick. impul
sive movement he drew Off his right.
glove.
We'll" he said. and 1 saw his lips
wreathe into n hard. unmirthful smile.
81 will take the coins just to show you
that am not afraid
Then, one by one, his wife counted
out the coins into his hand. Twenty
were already there. when, unable to
control the impulse which came over
me, / started up and cried: Drop it,
Tom, Why challenge such a thing as
thatT'
He looked at me. and saw how pale
and how stern was his face. He said
nothing to me. but merely turned to his
wife with the whisper. Go onr'
''Twenty-one, %, %, "a. %. 20. or
''Twenty-seven." 1 cried. what Is
that, there are only 20 people her, there
is mis- But 1 could get no further
Tom had staggered back, his body
shrunken in size. He fell to the floor
A deathlike silence fell over the as
semblage. / strobe over to my friends
PROSTATE form.
Tom was dead and cold, and in his
right hand there were 81 coins. look
ed at the top one; it was a German
piece. value 20 marks. took 1t TO the
light and gazed upon II. Across the
profile OF Emperor William III saw a
mark which described a true square.
and then / knew that the llama's curse
at length had had effect.-Penny Pic
for fnI