Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1903-05-21

the long list ron told about at
dinner time it seems b 6e there i
scarcely any one | lnou
Rouval was not very I'D II
this 3eeision- lie was He habit
Of going Ia the club eszky evening
and spen1zhg some hlxIfs IT the.
card table, aad it L. easne ~
fixed habit with him u 11Ik
restless and dissatisiiod llyHherc
else. He would like 70 - De Sau-
mur to takera hand xlth him, but
under the circumstances he scarcely
dared to. He kept ea<tins furtive
glances at the little table s. the cor
ner of the room, and . 1eagth De
Saumur, who had aofiezId his
friends uneasiness an6 HIo from
experience guessed fht eaklse, eug-l
gested himself Tat they should
Just have a round or two at cards
to see how much he had forgotten
in ten years.
'But ! thought you had quite
given up playing forever and ever,
objected his friend.
ayes, as q regular habit have,
but it is quite another thing to have
a game quietly here like this"
Rouyal was only too delighted
and pulled the card table out with
alacrity.
De Saumur played at first care
lessly.
He had only proposed it out of
consideration to his friend, and he
felt rather bored Rouval kept win
ming and appeared so contented
with himself and had such tri-
umphant manner that De Saumur
found himself getting interested
and excited in spite of himself. The
more he lost the more persistent he
became. 1t was as though the old
passion of former days which for
ten years had been kept in control
by his strong viii had completely
got the mastery of him. At first
the stakes had been Insignificant,
but as he continued to lose he be-
eamesippre and more desperate, un-
til at last the amount was getting
so serious that Rouval did not wish
to continue.
'sBut as / have been the loser so
far" said De Saumur, lyon cannot
refuse to go on surelyp
at is not for my own sake, but /
don't like it, Gilbert. You are here
at my house, and you are playing
desperate stakes"
"Welf, that's my own lookout.
It's your turn to cut"
Day was beginning to break, and
the two men were still seated at the
card table. They had played all
night, and now their. eyes were fiery
with excitement, and their hands
trembled as they handled the cards.
At last Gilbert de Sanmur ex-
claimed: ''Therel / cannot go on
any morep
Rouval looked at him anxiously,
thinking that he was i'll, but he con-
tinued:
"No; I've come to an end; that's
ell. / cannot 60 on because you
have won nearly every cent l pos
sess. I'll give you check on my
banker for it, and that settles il"
A dead silence followed these
words. What was to be done? The
play had been strictly fair, and Rou-
val had won it fairly.
"My dear fellow said Rouval as
De Saumur finished writing out the
check, 81 cannot take it all. Keep
something for yourself"
81 have f40 left" replied De Sau-
mur coldly. ''That will be enough
to get back where / came from.
Work is better for me than fortune.
/ have proved that twice. thought
now / was cured, but it appears I
was mistaken. I suppose now | shall
never see Paris again. Goodby,
Rouval."
And he got up and, opening the
door, took his hat from the peg in
the hall and went downstairs, fol-
lowed by Rouval, who accompanied
him to the hall door and who, when
he had closed it after his friend,
went back to his smoking den and
paced up and down the room until
it was broad daylight.
Every odd,e was the verdict at
the club the next evening. "Not
quite the thing to take everything
the poor fellow had worked ten
years for and SO send him back to