Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-30
THE GAMBLER
KATHERINE CECIL TTiURSTON,
- o Masquerader,"
By TAuton.

Thus It was that James Milbanke entered
on his drst night at Orristown. The sur
prise. the excitement. and the eliminating
incident OF the evening would have been
disturbing to a man OF even more placid
| temperament; and rebel as he might against
| the weakness. he lay awake considerably
longer than was his wont in the uncom-
Portable. canopied bed listening to the num-
berless inf1nitesimal sounds that break the
silence Of q sleeping house-from the faint,
occasional cracking Of the furniture to the
scurrying of a mouse behind the plaster OF
| the walls Then gradually, as his ears be-
came accustomed to these minor noises, an
other sound. unnoticed In the activity Of
the earlier hours, obtruded itself softly but
persistently upon his consciousness-the
subdued and regular breaking of the sea
on the rocks below the house.
A slight sense Of annoyance was his first
feeling, Tor 1t was many years since he
had slept by the sea; then quietly, linger-
ingly. soothingly the rhythmical persist
ence of the sound began to tell. 1mpercep-
| tibly the confusing ideas of the evening be-
came pleasantly indistinct-the numberless
contradictory feelings blurred into one de-
| lightful sensation of Indifference and re-
| pose. With the salt. moist air borne to
him through the open window. and the
great untiring lullaby Of the ocean rising
| and falling upon his senses. like the purr-
ing of gigantic cat, he fell asleep
His first sensation upon waking the next
| morning was one of pleasure-the placid.
| unquestioning satisfaction that comes to
the untroubled mind with the advent of a
| fine day. To his simple taste. the sights
and sounds that met his waking conscious
ness were possessed Of an unaccustomed
| charm. With daylight the room that last
night had held grim and even ghostly sug-
gestions took on more human and more
! friendly air. The ancient mahogany furni-
ture seemed anxious to reflect the morning
| sunshine; the massive posts Of the bed,
| with their drapery of faded rep. no longer
glowered upon the intruder. Each object
! was bathed in. and rejuvenated by. the
radiance of sea and sky that flowed in at
the open window.
For a while he lay in contemplative en-
| joyment Of this early, untainted atmos-
| day gradually rose above the soft beat Of
the outgoing tide-falling upon his ears in q
pleasant. primitive medley of clacking
fowls. joyous yeping dogs, and stamping
| inevitable wish to take active part in this
world created from the darkness and the
silence Of the night aroused him. and, slip
ping out OF bed, he drew on his dressing
gown and walked to the window.
! The sight that met his eyes was one of in
| finite beauty. The delicacy-the poetry
| the subtle, unnamable charm that lie in the
hollow of natures hand was over land and
sky and sea; the warmth and wealth Of
| summer stretched before him, but summer
mellowed and softened by a golden au-
tumnal haze
| There are more inspiring countries than
Ireland-countries more richly lowered In
| vegetation countries more radiant in at
mosphere and brilliant in coloring; but
there is no land where the hand Of the
Maker Is more pognantly felt; where the
| mystic spirit of creation-the wonderful,
tender. pathetic sense Of the beginning
has been SO strangely preserved. As Mil
banke stood at the open window his eyes
| travelled without interruption over the
wide, green felds-neither lawn nor mea-
shore, owning no boundary wall beyond
the low. shelving rocks Of red sandstone
\ that rose a natural barrier against the en-
croachments Of the tide. And from the
fields, bis gaze wandered onward, drawn
| irresistibly and inevitably to the sea it,
| self-the watchful, tyrannical guardian of
the silent land.
| 1t lay before him like tremendous CLASSY
lake. stretching in one untroubled sweep
from Orristown to the point three miles
| away, where the purple headland of Car
bay The silence. the majesty of that
sweep Of water was indescribable. From
the rim Of yellow sand. which the indo-
lent waves were tapping, to the msted
the smoothness of it's surface. Across the
bay at Carrigmore few spirals of smoke
| rose from the cluster of pink and white
cottages lying under the shadow Of the
couple of bare-legged boys were leisurely
| raktng up the sea-weed that the waves
had left and slowly piling 1t on waiting
donkey butt; but the sea itself was un-
disturbed. 1t lay as it might have lain
on the first day Of completed creation
| mystical, sublime, untouched.
pressed him. The extraordinary sense Of
an immutable and impenetrable peace be-
| fore which man and mans mere transitory
concerns are dwarfsd. If not entirely elimi-
tinge Of something bordering upon re-
luctance that he at last drew his eyes from
/ the picture and began to dress.
| But once freed from the spell Of the
| ocean, his mind reverted to the other inter-
ests that lay close at hand He found HIM
self wondering how his entertainers would
appear on second inspection: whether,
like his room, they would take on a more
commonplace semblance with the advent of
daylight The touch of irrepressible and
| human curiosity that the speculation
| aroused gave a spur to the business Of
| dressing; and 1t was we'll under the twenty
minutes usually devoted to his neat and
/ careful toilet when he found himself cross
Ing the corridor and descending the stairs
| ne encountered no one as he passed
gestion Of sunshine through the door that
stood Hospitality open. he paused for an in
slant to take cursory glance at the
graveled sweep that terminated the drive
and the grassy slope surmounted by a
fringe Of beeches that formed the outlook
| from the front of the house. Then he
turned quickly and, recrossing the hall,
l
None OF the household had yet appeared,
but here. also the daylight had worked
changes. The curtains were drawn back.
permitting the view of fields and sea. that
he had already studied from his bed room,
to break uninterruptedly through the three
lofty windows The effect was one Of ex-
treme airiness and light; and it was quite
a minute before his gaze turned to the
| darker side Of the room where the portrait
Of the famous Anthony Asshlin hung above
the glowing fire.
Realizing that he was alone in the big
room. he crossed to the table where break
fast was already laid-the remains of the
enormous ham rising from an untidy paper
frill to defy the attacks Of the largest ap-
petite. In the brilliance Of the light the
fneness of the table linen and its state Of
dilapidation were both accumulated, as was
the genuine beauty and intrinsic value Of
| the badly kept silver.
| But Milbanke had no time to absorb these
details, for instantly he reached the table
his eye was caught by folded slip Of
paper lying by his place. With a touch Of
surprise he stopped forward and picked 1t
up; then wave Of annoyance. almost of
guilt, succeeded the surprise as he realized
| that 1t was a check made out in Asshlin's
struggling handwriting for his losses of the