The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1902-01-14
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I A SHARPER'07
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Baron Won nehnitz was a member of
the Baccarat club in the Rue Raymond
de Toulouse of Paris. He was some
what remarkable man. A member of one
of the great but impecunious families OF
Saxony, he had, some five years before,
been caught young and married by
brilliant complexioned, though not very
rich, American girl. For a year or two
they had been content to live in his dull
native town, with its round of first rate
operas, but third rate everything else.
At the Anglo-American club the baron
had evinced a certain aptitude for ecarte,
poker and picquet, and so uniform had
been his success at these games that 1t
was not long before he began to yearn
for fresh fields and pastures new, where
he could play for higher stakes than
were obtainable in a second rate Ger
man town and a third rate Anglo-Amer-
lean society. His wife. too, impressed
BY his success and not unwilling to real
ize larger returns, encouraged him IN
his ambition, with the result that move
was made to Paris, and he became
member of the famous Baccarat club.
On first becoming a member of the
club he had confined himself to playing
in the small hours of the morning. All
the. highest play was between 8 and
o'clock, and these hours he had first
avoided on principle. After O'Clock be
had noticed that play became Stacker
and that those players who still stayed
on were either overexcited with wine
or beginning to tire, and by 3 O'Clock IN
the morning there were. as a rule, but a
few faded or half intoxicated members,
fair game, he considered, for a young
man of regular habits and who took a
sufficiency of sleep.
Now, as he said to his wife, he was IN
Paris on business, and pleasure and con-
venience must give way to that. and she,
being a practical young woman. cheer
fully acquiesed The consequence was
that this enterprising young couple kept
very curious hours indeed. They went to
bed regularly at 4 o'clock in the after
noon and got up regularly at midnight
Won Rachnitz then dressed himself fault
lessly in evening costume, kissed his dear
little wife, who wished him good sue
cess, and turned into the club as fresh
as paint And this plan for some time
succeeded excellently we'll Indeed. the
Frau Baronin, who was not quite as am
bilious as her husband, was beginning to
look forward to the retirement on a
very fair competence in the near future.
But this was by no means Won Rach-
nitz's idea. comfortable competency
did not appear half tempting enough to
him. He swore in his heart that be
would stick to business until he was a
really wealthy man. His success was
undoubtedly great with the comparative
~ small fry, but his practice in the small
hours of the morning was only to be the
prelude to greater things in the real
gambling hours of the club. lie only
waited his opportunity TO rake in, as he
believed himself capable of doing, the
thousands which changed hands before
o'clock in place of the hundreds which
he gathered in all too slowly after that
hour. In vain his wife used all her eff
forts to induce him to be content with
the sufficiency he had already amassed
He paid her no heed, but babe her wait
patiently and he would make her rich
woman.
Thus it was that about three years be-
fore a certain Raoul Fleischer obtained
membership in the club Won Rachnitz
had become one Of the 8 to l O'Clock
habitues AS in his earlier ventures. his
luck from the first proved phenomenal,
and this was the more astonishing as
here he was pitted against the finest and
coolest players in the world. However,
of course, bad fortune was sure to come
at last--at least, so all the knowing ones
said.
By this time Won Rachnitz had amass-
ed a large sum of money, larger. indeed.
than any of his associates imagined. He
and his wife were living very smartly in
a small way and were by degrees making
good their position in the very besl So
ciety. He was very popular with the
leading members of the club, among
whom was the cream of the male Pari
sian aristocracy.
my dear" said the baroness one day,
81 wish you would give up play"
81 wish | could, my love | would give
it up tomorrow if ! saw my way to
do So"
81 can't see what is to prevent you IL
you wish. It's simply tempting Provi-
dence to trust to your luck any longer"
you are perfectly right in what you
say, but you must remember that the
majority of the members of the Baccarat
club don't look on gaming as business,
and if it was for a moment imagined
that l played only for the money
make we should lose ground terribly in
society"
Il don't see why"
''You do not, and yet I've told you Of
ten enough that man who has played
successfully is always expected to go on
giving his fellow members an opportu-
nifty for revenge | should go down ire
mendously in their estimation If | sud-
denly stopped playing without assigning
any reason. You don't know how sus-
picious people become Of man who
gives up play before play gives him up.
don't see how I'm to abandon it alto
gether unless we make up our minds to
leave Paris and settle elsewhere"
"Ah. but that's out of the question,
just when we've got into society and all
that BY the bye, we're invited to the
Due de Pincenez's."
Zone of the very people. my love. who
would never invite US again if were to
give up play suddenly and without good
excuse"
''Oh, well, then. | suppose it can't be
helped" said the baroness. resigning her
self, as she had often done before, tc
what seemed to be the inevitable.
1t was two days after this conversa-
ton that Raoul Fleischer became mem
Der of the club. He was rude. over
bearing. vulgar creature. egotisticaI and
pushing to a degree; boastful about his
superiority at games of skill. and exas-
peratingly confident of his luck at games
of chance.
No one appeared to know precisely
where he came from. although he bore
letters from eminently respectable gen.
tlemen, dated at different parts of the
continent Fleischer had not been a
member of the club week when it was
suggested TO Won Rachnitz that he
should challenge this very Objectionable
person to great hont at ecarte. IN
which, If his luck, which was by THIS
time proverbial in the club, held goci,
NJ Raoul E'leiseher might be taught q
lesson.
"Wel, baron,' said the latter one
night. addressing Won Rachnitz with a
vulgar assumption of familiarity, lucky,
as usual, ! supposeY
Il dou't know so much about luck. NJ.
Fleischer. I'm prepared to back my
skill even against you. I'll play you a
few games of ecarte, if you wish. though
perhaps that's hardly your game, judg-
ing from the way you lost the big pool
last night"
"Ecarte not my game" replied
Fleischer Indignantly. Il lost the pool
last night, it is true, but the cards were
against me; that was why. | made no
mistake. | will, meinherr, play you,
when you will, for what you will, d hun
dred games of ecarte, and we will see
who is the better man. | or YOU"
Every we'll, replied Won Rachnitz, "as
you will Tomorrow ! will play you 100
games of ecarte for 1000 francs apiece.
The following night the club was
crowded News of the match had spread