The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-18
4 GHOST AT THE
 ROULETTE TABLE. Spirit of Dead Father Saves
 Young Man 2 GIVES TIMELY ADVICE Prompts Boy in Sore Need of Money in Winning the Desired
 Amount at the
 Wheel.
From the New York Herald.

From the New York Herald.
 In early youth l had regarded Harold Makepeace as singularly fortunate. The son of well-to-do parents, handsome, clev- CT and popular, what was left for him to wish for? But all this early changed While still a student of law he ventured upon matrimony and soon thereafter his misfortunes began. First, his father, an upright, courty gentleman of the old school, lost his fortune, and Harold was forced to discontinue his studies and ae- cept mercantile position. Soon there after Mr Makepeace died, and Harold forced to assume the support of his mother As by this time he had two chil- dren of his own, his small salary was scarcely adequate for his own needs. As though this were not enough, at this point a business friend of his fathers defaulted payment on note endorsed by MT. Makepeace, and, with quixotic devo- tion to his fathers memory, the boy had assumed responsibility for that debt. It was not long before he began to realize the crushing weight of the burden which he had assumed. Then, like so many mis- guided ones, he sought refuge with one of the so-called loan sharks,' who fatten on the blood of clerks and underpafd em- ployes of all kinds. On the arrival of the day of settlement Harold was forced to beg an extension of time. His request was granted, in consideration of further writ ten promises to pay further usury at the expiration of a fresh period, Sickness and other domestic misfortunes, however, had rendered abortive all attempts to provide for meeting the debt and with the day of reckoning before the door he saw ruin, rendered still blacker by the horrors of his imagination, staring him in the face.
 My situation was desperate" he said, in relating the story From the so -called finance company 1 could look for no mer cy and exposure would inevitably mean the loss of my position. But two courses seemed open to me-suicide and defalca- tion. VIII you be surprised that I de- termined upon the latter? My position with the company with which I was em- ployed made it easy for me to borrow thousand or two dollars and to conceal the shortage several months-long enough, at least, until l could refund the money. For, of course, like all men in my posi- tion, l fully intended to put the money back. Thirteen hundred dollars was all l needed, not a very large sum. but tell you the tragedy of $500 may be as great
 as that of $1, ,OOO'
 Such was Harolds state of mind when he drfted into one of the cheap gambling houses that infest the town in which he | lived He had entered without any inten- | ton of playing, guided solely by the de- sire to escape from his own thoughts. For ! a while he stood idly watching the game | letting the loose coins in his pocket slip | through his fingers, the marble spun 1 and hurled to it's final destination in one
 of the 37 divisions of the wheel 1 Seventeen, black and odd' announced 1 the croupier, in a eolorless voice, he scooped in the checks scattered over the board. and then with dazzling rapidity paid out the amount due the fortunate
 individual who had placed his stake on the winning number.
 Come on. boys" urged the siren, re- beating the time honored lure, "one of the numbers must win. and it pays 35 to 1. Another bird-three, red and odd No-
 body on the number. Once more they're off, and again the ball was sent on it's ! monotonous Journey.
 "Twenty-six," urged a voice in Har olds ear. so insistently that, without waiting to discover its source, he tossed q silver dollar on the square indicated. To his surprise and delight, 26 won
 and with eager fingers he gathered in .he
 money which the banker paid him. refus- ing the offer of checks. Then he turned
 to see who had spoken. but the counten- ances of those near at hand betras ed purely impersonal interest-tnged perha ps by jealousy Twice more the ball had been spun,
 bringing joy and disappointment to those about the board, but Harold had not again bet. By strange chance he had been successful onee-he would be con tent with that and not tempt fate fur ther. And yet
 "Fifteeni" urged the mysterious voice anew. With gasp Harold turned a startled face over his shoulder.
 "Fifteen, odd and black" announced the croupier, mechanically-the number
 had won. but Harold's money was not
 upon it.
 It was his fathers voice that had spoken-of that he was sure-although his father had been dead for three years.
 Yet even granted that commun. "a ations from the spirit world were possible would his father have chosen such surround ings in which to communicate with him? Wildly the calm. strong face of the dead man rose before his mind. with the kind ly, fearless eyes that bespoke firm, un- compromising honesty. God knew he needed the money, but even so-
 Again came the voice in his ear-22,''
 ms tune IfafOlu ulu 0Ol hesitate, put with trembling fingers placed a s5 note on the number
 "Twenty-two winsn' announced the banker, fa"etiously: "our slim young friend seems to be in luck
 With a1 unsuccessful show of indiffer- ence Harold gathered in the money. He had now won $210. But more than 5000 was still needed 10 save him. Would the voice speak again?
 Make your bets boys-one number must win, and 1t pays 35 times'
 With fascinated eyes Harold watched the marble spin round the edge of the yellow disk until, with decreasing mo- mentum, it struck one of the di4nond- shaped protuberances and went rattling toward the center of the wheel
 "Thrteenl' urged the voice, and in obedience Harolds hand shot out to place stake on the number. moment later the marble settled into the opening marked thirteen"
 "Oh no. young man,' cried the banker, quick to construe the situation to the banks advantage. "bets at the last mos ment don't go," and with a delft move ment he gathered in the banknote. Drop thatv' cried Harold, with equal quickness and his voice indicated the mood of a man who brooks no trifing. You'd have taken my money, all right. if you'd have won so just pay up.' Irresolutely the man met the eyes of this supposed "tenderfoot," who had sud denly developed such unlooked-for energy. Then he turned to glance inquiringly at the proprietor a sullen. red-faced man.