The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-09-16

,er IS, 1905.
the serpent spread, the ember grew into
fame. His daughter, legitimately en-
joying herself with the young people,
knew nothing nor dreamed. Indeed,
he never entered the temple till after
he had kissed her good night.
He lost. He lost twice, thrice, in
succession. One morning he woke up
to the fact that he was several thous
and dollars on the wrong side of the
book. If the money had been his own,
way, cured. But It was money, which
he held in trust. He must replace it.
The angel in the pitch robes stood at
his side; she even laid hand on his
shoulder and urged him to win back
what he had lost. Then indeed he
could laugh 60 his way and gamble h no
winter he lost something like $4,000.
Then began the progress Of decline.
| The following summer his losses were
even greater than before. He began
to mortgage the estates, for his author
ity over his daughter property was
absolute He dabbled in stocks; a
sudden fall in gold, and he realized that
his daughter was nearly penniless. All,
had he been alone, had the money been
his, he would have faced poverty with
all the courage Of brave man. But
the girl, the girl! She must never
know, she must never want for those
luxuries to which she was accustomed.
| For her sake he must make one more
| effort. He must Win must, must! He
raised more money on the property. He
became irritable, nervous, to which
were added sudden bursts Of tenderness
which the girl could not very well I'M
derstand.
The summer preceding the action of
this tale saw them at Dieppe. AT one
time he had recovered something be-
tween 10000 and 10000 Of his losses.
i All, had he stopped then, confessed to
his daughter, all would have gone well.
But, no; he must win the entire sum.
He lost, lost,l lost. The crash came In
August. But corner Of the vast Vir-
ginian estates was left, and this did not
amount to 10000. Five francs carelessly
ruined and dishonored him. The angel
J of the pitch robes had fairly envelope6
} him now. The thought that he had
} gambled uselessly his daughter s legacy
the legacy which her mother had left
confdingly in his care, filled his sou
3 with the bitterness Of gall. And SHE
: continued the merry round of happi
t iewelry, furs, the little things which
{ women love; gave dinners and teas ant
dances, considered herself an heiress
} and thought the world very pleasant
! place to live in. Every. laugh from he
was a thorn to. him, the light Of hap
r piness in her eyes a reproach, for h'
, knew that shes was dancing toward thu
, precipice which he had digged for her
Struggling futilely among these net
ties of. despair, he took the. final step
His ruin became definite. His evil god
:, dess saw to it that an opportunit,
,, should present itself. (How simple al
: this reads! AS read it over it doe
: not seem credible. Think of a man VIII
,, has reached the height Of his ambition
q in this silly, inexcusable fashion! Wei
that is human nature, the human par
3 3 of it. Only here and there do we fa]
I grandly.) ~ v.
7 : One starlit night he met distir
= guished young diplomat, rich and HAND
: some. He played some. but to pas
away the time rather than to coque
q who plays for the mere fun of it
|: generally lucky. He asks nosfavo1
e from fortune; he does not pay any al
tention to her, and, woman-like, she
l. piqued. He won heavily this night; M
a soldier lost correspondingly heavy. TIL
:, diplomat pressed loan upon his new
d found friend, who, with his usual lucl
s. lost it.
r The diplomat was presented to tn
e daughter. They owned to mutual a.
o quaintance in Paris and Washington
l. The three attended the concert. TT
o girl returned to the hotel bubbling wit
n happiness and the echoes of enchantin
q melodies, for she was an accomplishe
l. musician. She retired and left the tw
mn n ooffnn
d conversation took several turns, and ;
1t length stopped at diplomacy.
l. 1t has always puzzled me,' sal
le the soldier, Chow Russia finds out a
y she does.'
Il "That is easily explained Russ
IF has the wisdom Of the serpent. He
a. IS man who possesses a secret whie
y: y him. If he is gallant, one ''d d.
i. ne meets a fascinating woman
~ if he is greedy, he = turns
+ find bowl of gold at his elbow; if l
e. shortest road.'
y But her knowledge Of foreign arm
w and naval strength"
d d "Money does al, that. Russia pc
~, w. sesses an accurate knowledge Of ever
u u fort, ship and gun England boasts O
g, ta France, Germany and Japan. We ha'
IT, never taken it into our heads to inve
IS tigate America. Till recently yo
v country as foe to Russian interes
O. had dropped below the horizon. Al
IN now Russia finds that she must proce
IN to do what she has done to all 9th
n countries; that is, duplicate her rival
e. fortiication plans, her total militia
CHI and naval strength; and so forth, and
n, on. The United States is not an enem
IS: but there are possibilities of her /
at coming so. Some day she must wre
&C. Cuba from Spain, and then she m;
IS; become a recognized quantity in t
ad Pacific. - 1~
in. "The Pacifc9" i -..s-
" Even SO. Having taken Cuba, t
at United States. to protect her weste
at coast, will be forced to occupy the Phi
it ippines, and having taken that arc
it's pelago, she becomes menace to Ri
ic, sian territorial expansion in the f
e9 east. L do not always speak so fran
to ly. But wish you to see the necessi
he Of knowing all about your coast
lis lenses. -
or cit can not be donei ''-spirited
nd So far, the American had only ga
lld bled.
in cit can and will be done," smili1
he "Despite the watchfulness of your
ed fcials, despite your secret service,
IN spite all obstacles, Russia will auie1
he gain the required information. She p
,as sesses key to every lock-
"a "And what might this key be?''
of with tolerant irony.
led "Gold.''
IN "But if the United States found {
ley what Russia was doing, there might
rst war.