River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-09-17

E~T[TTS1 tage, that very chic ho-
h3A&ESta tel which has of late
49, outshined the Paris and
the Metropole, as the rendezvous Of
the elite. 1t was the evening OF
Christmas Eve two years ago, and,
as is well known, with Christmas Eve
commences the season at The Sign
Of the Seven Sins.
The hotel had only been opened
few days. and the only other occupant
of the reading-room was solitary
looking mana round-shouldered rath-
er haggard-looking old fellow about
60, with pointed grey beard and his
mustaches trained upwards. He was
an entire stranger to me; but his shah
biness caused me some surprise, for
those who frequent the Hermitage are
always smart.
Good EVENING"" he exclaimed good
humoredly in English, when he had
thoroughly inspected me in that man
Der which sometimes becomes habit
with the elderly.
''By the way, what's the day of the
month";"
THE twenty-fourth, l responded
Christmas Eve"
I've played here regularly for Is
years, and have never lost" he an
swered, simply, looking me full in the
face with his black, piercing eyes.
Never LOST" / echoed, pricking up
my ears. why, that's impossible with
such chances against you"
"Ah! / see you don't believe me" he
exclaimed, with a hard, dry laugh.
Il tell you / can win every time /
play. I'm open to bet you a thousand
pounds upon it. If you'd like me to
prove what l say, come into the Ca
sine tomorrow; and taking from his
pocket a well-worn leather wallet, he
drew from it a bundle of French bank
notes, adding: These are my usual
stakes for Christmas Day-100,000
francs"
The name archibald Grant" was
printed upon the card he handed me,
and before we parted l had accepted
his invitation to go with him and wit
ness his luck at the tables.
The morning was sunny, balmy and
cloudless.
My gray-faced friend sauntered
along, paused at the last center table
in the roulette room, and watched the
ball fall upon the number q, which is
red, and then glancing at the revOlv-
ing wheel, and noticing that the next
square to that wherein the ball was
lying was the number 13, black, he
carelessly took from his pocket six
thousand-franc notes, and bending
over. with his lean claw-like hand
placed them on the black
The wheel was again revolved, the
croupier launched the ball, which
few minutes later fell with a click.
Black gained, and my friend won the
maximum of 5000 francs, or 240
pounds.
With the habitue's confidence he al
lowed his original stake to remain,
and once more the invitation to play
arose above all other sounds. Again
the wheel revolved, and again he won.
Next moment a dozen other notes,
some gold plaques" and a few five
franc pieces were showered upon his
stakes, for the crowd of excited play
ers witnessing his luck were eager to
follow his fortune.
Again the wheel was spun, and the
same wearied voice a moment later
cried that the number 16 had won and
also the red, therefore the sum of
10000 francs was handed to my gray
faced companion amid quite a chorus
of "Ohs!"
We'll" he asked, with a cynical
smile, as he raised his glass, have
l convinced you Of my power of win
ning?"
''Of course" l responded. But may
you not lose it all again like so many
others do?"
Ali" he smiled 81 see you are not
vet convinced. Well, tonight you shall
have further proof"
With a sudden grunt he twisted
some notes together, tossed them upon
the black, and won. The croupier
counted them and paid out the
maximum. At that moment one
of the players who lost rose
and offered him a chair, which
he took, and then settled down
to play, stalking each, time the maxi
mum. Around that table the crowd
grew larger as soon as it was an
nounced that high play was in prog
ress. and at each spin Of the wheel my
strange friend placed his notes I'M
hesitatingly, stalking the maximum al
ways, and scarcely ever failing to gain
the respectable maximum of 5000
francs.
Time after time he played, until
more than an hour had passed and his
winnings grew so great that his peck
cts could hold no more. The ball fell
and he still won, whereupon the crou-
pier turned to the chef de partie,
after swiftly counting the money be-
fore him. and in an instant the eager
crowd OWNED the truth
Archibald Grant had broken the
bank!
So strangely fascinating was this re-
markable old mans companionship
that | felt constrained to accept his
invitation, and we went down the
steps together into the brightly-lit
place, where many people were stroll
ing about, and the band was still play
ing before the gay cafe. We did not
enter his hotel as expected, but kept