The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1902-08-26

down to poker at a. dollar ante and S.
limit it seemed all right to me- In 9TH
er words. years and years of strict
probity rolled off like blanket, and l
felt myself going to ruin. fully real
lied it, but did not care In my utter
abandon l continued to laugh and
make merry.
had never played twenty games of
poker in my life, but went right at 1t
as if l had never patted a Sunday
school scholar on the head or sent
tracts to sailors. am a very econom-
ical man and scrutinize my bills very
carefully, but on this occasion | found
myself saying that | did not care if
lost even a whole pound. The old say
ing of fool for luck held good in this
case. l knew afterward that the din
ner was put up job to skin me at
cards, but the two sharpers failed in
their purpose. | have no doubt they
resorted to all sorts of tricks with the
cards; but, do what they might, the
hands ran in my favor, and | raked in
the pots.
1t was no less parsonage than my
self who by and by suggested that
the limit be removed. The others
promptly assented, and the result was
that after two hours play had them
dead broke. AS their plan to skin me
had failed. they resorted to other tao
tics. One of them must have poured
knockout drops in a glass of wine Of
fered me, for l no sooner drank it than
felt my senses leaving me. AS near
as l could ever figure it, twenty four
hours elapsed before | woke up and
found myself in a hospital That was
not the worst of it, however. l could
remember nothing. l could not recall
my name, nativity, hotel or anything
connected with myself. l had not the
remotest idea where | lived or what
had occurred.
was told that had been picked up
in the street Graham and his friend
had robbed me, dressed me in an old
suit Of clothes and carried me out upon
the street. They had shaved off my
whiskers, trimmed off my heavy eye
brows and otherwise disguised me,
and one of them had gone to my hotel
with a note signed with my name and
settled my bill and brought away my
things. When the hospital doctors
found that my memory was gone, they
did not press me to talk, but sought to
encourage me by saying that things
would soon come right
do not believe that man standing
defenseless before a crouching lion
feels the terror l did when l found
that had been wiped out of existence.
For want Of name they called me
mo. 14' in the hospital, and l never
heard 1t without a gasp and a shudder.
In way, the old suit of clothes and
empty pockets suggested that l was a
poor man, yet when they came to see
that was one who had bathed daily
and had taken proper care of my nails
and teeth they were puzzled My
speech proved me to be English, but
that was no great point gained. There
are hundreds of Englishmen to be met
in Paris, and how were they to hunt
out my record without name and
with very bad personal description?
1t was two weeks before I was well
enough to leave the hospital, and then
came the question of where should
go and what should do. | was penni-
less and among strangers Influenced
somewhat by sympathy, no doubt, but
more by professional interest, the head
surgeon took me to his own home to
see If time or accident would not bring
back my memory 1, who had an in
come of $1,000 per year, valet at my
rooms in London and was looked upon
as a gentleman of leisure, became the
Doctors 'man." l BACKED his shoes,
brushed his coat and hat, ran on err
rands and bought meat and vegetables
for the family table. There was not
an hour of the day that l was not
working my brain over the mystery,
but try as hard as l would l could not
go back further than the hospital.
When woke up, there my life began
anew.
During the six months | was with
the doctor various suggestions were
made and followed. | took long walks
to see If could identify streets and
squares and buildings, and | mingled
with crowds in hopes that might see
face l could recall. A map of Lon
don was shown me, and the doctor
called off the names of hundreds of
streets. 1t was all in vain, however.
The book was closed, and couldn't
open it. There would come moments
when l could almost grasp the past,
but as my heart began to thump and
my brain to whirI. memory would slip
away again.
At the end Of six months and while