The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-01-21
FORTUNES FOOIBALL
Bv LZOLA FORRESI,ER.

| 0V 4AOA<<A 4
Ramsden rose from the table leisure
y. He did not feel excited or nervous,
he sat down. Between the time of sit
ting and the present moment was diff,
ference Of exactly forty minutes, and
$3,708. It was a small mat
tel. During the forty minutes, the
5000 odd had huctuated in splendid and
most capricious proportions. At one
time Ramsdell believed it had become
winning. Now. it was nothing, and
Ramsden rose with q curious sense of re-
ieved tension and speculative content.
There was a crowded semicircle OF
faces back Of his chair. He did not
meet any Of the eyes. There would
be only, pity or amusement in them;
Not that he cared for public sentiment
least he knew that one face was not
there.
It was cool and dark out Of doors.
He stopped outside the Casino, lit a
cigarette and took the promenade to-
ward the palace. 1t would be quiet up
there and h. could u think h.d There he 4h was
"
chance to think.
AS he left the lights and the music
feeling Of separation from it all, even
the hotels and the railway station,
Ahead Of him was the castled steep OF
Monaco, beyond that the sea and the
night, and beyond that-he lifted his
He was neither desperate nor NOR
bid. Several times in his life when
crisis had come, he had found him
self acting as two distinct personalities
There was one who simply drifted or
the tide of circumstance, and another
who watched the drifting in quiet, i'm
sorry for the other fellow in a friendly
way, but was not troubled concerning
him. The worst that the tide could dc
was to lay him gently up on the shore
He felt in his pocket and drew out
his cigarette case. There were five
left. He replaced them carefully. i
was a time when items mattered. H
perhaps at the fifth, the tide would
come in. ...' -.
Two years exactly had passed sine,
he had seen .Crittenden. He had gon,
toh i'm in about the same spirit al
he had sought the Casino tonight. Their
was a chance Of a hundred to one tina
he might win.
He lad known the man slightly. Be
fore the bottom had dropped out O.
the market that last day he had see1
Crittenden leaning comfortably agains
a pillar near the wheat pit, watching
him. When it was over he had passe'
near the pillar, and crittenden had pu
hr mGeod t iggRt all al gight' " he sal
It was not much Of a straw to grass
sympathy and appreciation In hi
glance, that, coming from John R. Crit
| tenden, made it whole hayload.
| ,,Ramsdell had gone to him the mex
day with the proposition. It was no
sentimental one. Probably if it ha
been he would have left the office 0:
La Sale street in FIVE minutes. AS
He L. had toid Crittenden nothing bu
the cold facts in the case. He was Ut
terly ruined in the crash Of May wheat
If he could have covered his margin
and so held the market for another day
he might possibly have won out. =, A
it was, he was worse than pennies
and he wanted $50, 900 from Crittendel
He would insure his life for $4,000
Crittenden' g favor. The fact Of Cri
tenden holding the note against him fc
$50, 900 would cover the insurance reg,
lations. The note was to be mad
payable at the end Of two years. A
the expiration Of that time, if he faile
to meet it, he gave his word Of homo
( Crittenden had heard him thru
silence.
IT mean what I say,O Ramsdell ha
remarked, after waiting for an answe
Crittenden. eff I had any doubt. I
have you arrested as a crank, or lun;
! tic; :, y, What will you do with tt
"Use it as fresh capital. I coul
90 to work and earn it, possibly, bl
It g waste Of time. This is. quicker
"It's, all right except the suici6
"That is merely protection to 20
have no other security to give for tt
{ money! !" 49,
:, crittendep nodded appreciatiyely. T
GRAFTON, he also liked the spirit Of
man who would not ask something f.
= nothing. It showed principle. On tt
= strength Of it, coupled with his pr
z vious opinion Of young, Ramsdell as
wheat Spectator, he had taken his no
~ inside siG'VV Of year Ramsdell had lie
, Chicago with the remnants OF, $4,000
football with him. Several times
had approached the $4,000 mark. b
had never passed it. He had stayed
New York ten months, and had left
I Europe with something less than $500
, It had been chance. Also, as
minor, personal consideration, he had {
}, idea that it would be easier living I
to-, or rather dying up to, his word
honor in Europe than at home. The
were fewer temptations for living tn,
|. on the home side.
, He had not counted on Beata.
! The second cigarette became an il
f possible half inch, and he threw it
b the ground and lit a third. !.
+ reaching Monaco. It had been a N
J. instant their chances had met.
he stepped from the entrance Of t
!. Hotel de Paris, white automob!
q had passed, taking. the road to t
s Rivera. Everything about it W
!. white, even to the garb Of the cha,
\ four. The girl beside the latter b
. worn an all-enveloping cloak Of hea
: white silk. Her white leather cap" e
i closely on : mass Of fair hair, as ri
q in color as clunp Of golden rod
1. an autumn prairie back home in Illino
a There was a continental repose a.
b finish TO her that placed barrier.
n whom he had seen about the Cast
=. and hotels. Her long automobile v
a Of white chiffon was lifted from h
!. face, and as she passed, her dark ey
"a had looked directly at him.
T. Clancy, Ward & Jaffray's Europe