The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-09-29
THE OUTCOME
OF A GAME

Grace Horton married him instead Of
mo THAT his marriage did not break
an orr intimacy was due entirely to
0fts who was ignorant Of my attach
nent for the woman he married, and I
could not turn away his invitations to
no 4 frequent visitor to his house, Day
~ dav grew irritated against him.
OTIS had one weakness-a passion for
oamhling. not that he visited the regu-
lar gambling houses, for he did not
hut he played at home. He would gath
or marty OF friends nearly every night
and the play was always very high.
This his wife did not know. She was
aware that be played for money, but
supposed the amounts were triling.
otis gradually collected all sorts Of I'M
elements for gambling.
one Saturday afternoon in June rs
was about to leave my Office for a half
holiday otis dropped in and told me
that he had bought roulette table.
Would | 20 with him and see the ball
spin? He insisted. ! yielded.
On reaching his house we went to
what he called the smoking room, d.
vested ourselves Of our coats and vests,
lighted cigars and sat down at the rou-
Iette table. There IS something fascl-
Mating in watching the little bali spin
rapidlv around for awhile, then begin
10 coquette with the different pockets,
rolling toward one, striking a point and
nearly being knocked into another
poised for moment on the edge Of a
third, never settling into its choice till
the excitement Of the watchers has
reached fever heat. Otis was banker
he won all the money had about me;
then / began to give him due bills
About A o'clock | added these amounts
and found that was bankrupt
It was plain to me that Otis had
grown frightened at my large bets
lie had a wife and a child, and II in
stead Of the bank having broken me
had broken the bank 1t would have
been terrible. The fires OF hell were
burning within me. This man had de-
iprived me Of the woman upon whom l
had set my heart and now he had fax
en- every dollar l possessed AZ a
drowning man will catch at a straw I
/ ran my hands through my pockets and
felt coin the size Of a half dollar. |
drew 1t from its place and In doing SO
dropped it, and it rolled under lounge.
I arose to get ii,
"Never mind, said Otis. "What was
litY'
Fifty cents, 1 believe"
Every well; it's safe Make your
bet"
| bet on the number giving the high
est returns. The ball spun around,
dallied here and there, then dropped
/ into my number From this on / had
an astonishing run Of luck tin I had
won back 500 Of my losses. / played
on, the luck continuing with me Din
ner was announced, but we paid no at
tention to it. At II o'clock | had re-
gained all I had lost besides a consid-
cradle sum from Otis He figured his
I losses and In a trembling voice am
nounced that they were $4,000, or near
/ " $1,000 more than be could possibly
pay had broken the bank.
I The revenge | had coveted now that
It was attained suddenly turned bitter
After the FIRST exciting moment Of
realization that ! had saved what /
( possessed, won an Otis had and placed
him IN the position was I'd when |
found the half dollar q reYuIsion came
over me. lie was my friend aud had
never injured me. had loved the
girl who was his wife. and his child
was devoted to me Nevertheless |
had ruined him and ruined his wife
and child.
/ "Otis," | said, when | had lost all
this afternoon / found a half dollar.
with which retrieved everything and
broke your bank. It rolled under that
lounge. 90 and find 1t and see what
You can do with IT. Ms opinion Is that
there's rare luck fin IT.
He went to the lounge, got down on
the floor, found the piece and brought
It TO the table noticed a curious ex-
preston on his face and turned my
eyes from 1t to the coin. tt HAD rather
the look OF german silver than the true
white metal.
That's no half dollar,o said Otis
It's a check for something
It was check for an umbrella that
| had carried for week. had re-
gained my fortune and won OTIS for
tune on vaIueless bit Of metal. we
stood looking at each other while the
truth was breaking over us. His for
tune was his own, and he was entitled
to mine.
Inc remembrance of that moment al
ways gives me great satisfaction. In
stead Of experiencing disappointment
felt pleasure, preferred that otis
should possess the money. His wife
and child would share 1t with him. and.
az for me, was young ana would dou
Die my efforts to retrieve my losses.
There was a crate in the room. and
Otis, without speaking, gathering the
due bills, both his own and mine. took
them there; then, striking a match. he
lighted them. When they were burned.
ne came to me with outstretched hand,
saying:
The games draw, old man. and
it's the last game that win ever be
played in this house ana the last time