Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-09-13

moment, to consult his wife, l suppose,
he returned and invited me to be his
guest till morning. 1 most gratefully
accepted.
1 sat down to a dainty supper with
family consisting of the captain, his
wife, refined woman with whose APP
pearance 1 was especially struck, and
several boys and girls of various ages.
After the others had gone to bed the
captain and l sat on porsh overhang-
ing the lake, smoking.
Il know of Captain Laurence" l
said, though 1 never saw him. You
can't be he, because he went to the
bad
Captain L. c. T. Laurence of the
-th United States artillery"
Yes"
81 am the man"
1 was astonished The Laurence l
referred to had been one of the most
promising young officers in the army,
but, having been caught cheating at
cards, was cut by all his comrades and
was forced to resign.
IF had known that you had ever
heard of me-" said Captain Laurence,
II would not have invited you TO stay
over night, AS it is, l may make it less
embarrassing for you (for l have
ceased to feel embarrassed about my
disgrace) by telling you how it oc-
Cured. If you believe my story, You
will rest more pleasantly tonight under
my roof; if not, l will have done all in
my power to make you comfortable.
My early years in the army were
in Of n1T +
ed, especially in winter, from the rest
of the world. To pass the time we
played poker, for awhile for money,
but as the excitement of gambling was
distasteful to me 1 finally declined to
play for stakes. whereupon we played
for chips. This not proving interesting,
we began to cheat one another, study
ing different methods, some of us be-
coming quite expert. We would play
game of freeze out'-that is, any man
caught cheating was ruled out. the 9th
ers playing on till all had been caught
but one, who was the winner. We
played this game necessarily one win
ter and found it more exciting than Il
game for real stakes played legitimate
~. At the end of the season l was de-
clared the best cheat of the party, hav-
ing won more games than any of the
others.
I'm the spring l was ordered to one
of the principal posts in the west, in
which were located the headquarters
of the department. There L met the
daughter of the general commanding,
to whom 1 became engaged. Poker is
common in the army and was univer-
sally played at Fort -, but my dis
taste for the game was so great that
declined to play. However, one even
ing 1 was standing over a poker table,
and the players looked so social that l
decided TO take hand.
Half an hour passed without any
change whatever in my finances. In
fact, the game proved so uninterest-
ing to me that my thoughts wandered.
l was thinking of the girl l had re-
Gently won and the happiness in store
for me- 1 was soon to be ordered to
the command of an arsenal, where l
would have an opportunity to use my
scientific knowledge and perfect a new
gun 1 had invented. All these matters
were passing through my mind, and
the game 1 was playing was absolutely
forgotten. Suddenly l heard one of
the company say:
"'Captain Laurence, you are
swindler.'
"All rose from the table, some look
ing at me with establishment. others
CHANGING at me. One who had been
looking over my hands declared that
ne had not only seen me cheat once,
but several times.
81 awoke to the consciousness that
during my observation-disclosures / had
dropped into the habit formed during
the previous winter. What would it
avail me to assert my innocence? l
was ruined.
Gentlemen began and stopped.
Why make defense that would not
he believed? / covered my. face with
my hands, turned and left the room.
1.-The next morning 1 was cut by
every officer at the post. The general
sent for me and told me that to avoid
scandal which would be injurious
to my corps and the army it would be
necessary for me to resign. and if 1
did not he would be obliged to prefer
charges against me of conduct unbe-
coming an officer and n gentleman.
of course he concluded, all is over
between you and my daughter.
81 resigned my commission, but left
it with my fiancee to decide upon her
course after she had heard my story.
She believed in my innocence and mar
ried me before / left the post: We
bought this place and came here to live
and to die in exile"
Captain said. +" my sympathy for
your misfortune is only equaled by
my admiration for the woman who
consented to take it upon herself for
your sake
uESTER p nERIwETrJER