Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1901-09-05
! A Game OF Cards

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you wish to know" said Baron NAL
| ten, why | refuse TO play cards with
you? Well. III tell you"
| But first let me describe the baron. He
| is a man who carries his 80 years we'll;
! he is tall, Of striking appearance, regu-
! lar features, SCrupulOusly neat in his ap-
| parel, in manners coldly polite, circum-
! spect and always self possessed. He i'm
| presses one as being the personihcation Of
order His comprehension is as slow as
| his tongue. He knows, but his mental
acquisition requires time to formulate it
| self and to give itself expression. If
snails had the power Of speech and were
holding a conference, | am convinced
they would talk a Ia Malten. His Ian
guage is correct and deliberate, his Ges
lures few and his smiles rare.
He was formerly a captain of cavalry
in the Austrian army, but was obliged to
quit the service after the battle of Sa-
dowa, where he was wounded in the
knee. The wound healed in the course Of
time, but it resulted in slight lameness
of the left leg. which, however, is not
without compensation, for now when the
baron walks he has the measured swing
Of a soldier on parade. his right hand
feeling by force Of habit for his missing
saber-thst beautiful saber, close com
paniOn Of the spurs, whose musical jingle
thrills the ear of the cavalryman the
world over. Every one knows that he is
poor and proud, but still he is often inyit
ed to the castle, more because he Is an
Austrian than on account Of his title.
He accepts with dignity, aud, being an
educated man and an attentive listener,
his company is eagerly sought. And,
now that we know something Of the man,
let him tell his own story:
My story" said he, SIS a short one,
quite commonplace and not of thrilling
interest. However. here il is: l cheated
at cards"
At these words we all looked at one an
other with blank amazement. Malten
noticed the look of horror on our faces,
nodded his classic head in confirmation OF
our astonishment and stroliing his long,
gray mustache, said slowly, Yes, I
Maten."
Then, seating himself in an armchair
and stretching out his Sadowa leg tender
ly, he related the following tale with
characteristic slowness:
''Twenty-fve years ago l was a young
married man, very young sublieuten-
ant, and very young in many respects.
Since then | have grown older and wiser.
My poor young wife is dead, and since
her death | find my life well nigh intol-
cradle. / can scarcely call il living. |
simply exist. At the time OF which |
speak we resided in Il cozy little house in
a suburb Of Vienna. In the evening
when the weather was pleasant we used
TO go out walking past the Elizabeth
bridge, and the eight statues on that
structure have looked down upon US more
than 100 times as We walked slowly past
arm In arm. We talked about many top
les. She dreaded war. | wished u call
to war. We more than once expressed
astonishment that we two, holding views
so opposed, should be married, but our
talks always wound up with plans for
the future. We even discussed how to
bring up our children before we had any.
''When the weather was bad, we re-
mained at home in a little world of our
own, and after supper we found our
chief amusement in playing cards, usu-
ally ecarte. Though neither Of US was
expert at the game, we played earnestly
to win, and whenever lost ! would rail
at my i'll luck, give blast or two on the
trumpet aud raise racket generally.
When she lost. she kept quiet, but 1
could see by the trembling of her lips
that she suffered as much in her silence
as | in my noisy demonstration.
After awhile, to add spice to the
game, | began to cheat. Ny wife did the
same. And, like two children, we pre-
tended to deceive each other. When |
managed to get the five trumps and
spread them out with look of inno-
cence on my face, she would eXclaim,
You are cheating, sir!' And l would re-
ply, Yes, my dear, | know it, but it's
the only way to win And so we passed
many pleasant evenings.
1T was about that period Of my exist
ence that | was invited for the first time
70 visit General MOhr. With what joy l
accepted the honor! My wife began
about noon to spread my uniform on the
bed, and with what care she helped me
dress! 1t was her hands that fastened
my saber; 1t was she who gave me the
final inspection, and when she bade me
gOodby at the door, for she did not ac-
company me. she had n look OF pride 50
sweet that for n moment | had it in my
heart to say: My dear I'll not go to the
generals tonight. You are my wife-the
best little woman In all the world-and
III stay at home with you and keep on
my uniform just for you alone Would
to heaven ! had remained home that
night
When | arrived at the generals house,
| assure you ! did not regret my visit
Nothing Is more beautiful than those re-
ceptions in my country. and on that even
tp,y, . l, ~
There We're all the CORDS commanders,
also a group of archdukcs-and our arch
dukes are grand There is something
about their carriage, their dress, their
profile, so majestic that they look as IL
they had just dismounted from those
bronze horses which they will bestrde
when after death their equestrian statues
shall be erected on high. bearing large
military hats with spreading plumes.
'Of the ladies' | will only say that they
were there in great numbers And such
beauties. Our Nicnncse blonds are so
beautiful. Such milk white skin Such
eyes Of heavenly blue, No man could
help falling in love with them, sngiy
and collectively, especially if he saw
them dance. Really, your heart became
enthrailed at once and was carried away
in the folds of the ladies' dresses And
then there was Strauss. The great and
only Strauss, who conducted like some di-
vine being. But | must stop lest ! make
myself ridiculous in your eyes. ! viewed
oil these spIendors with joyful astonish-
ment with a certain pride at being there.
At times thought Of my little wife at
home and wished she were on my arm
Working Night and Day
The busiest and mightest little thing
that ever was made is DR.. King ) New
Life Pills. These pills change weak
No. 1T. .trn,,nln hstlnssmnaa into nnpr-