Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-29

lie chose they made room for him. BY mid
night he was down within his last hundred dol
lars. He passed 4 bad hand, rose, stretched
himself. went INTO Fallun : dressing room. He
lit = cigar. took chair. put MS feet on the
window sill. Slowly. calmly. he reviewed his
situation. Yes, he said, after his careful,
clean eyed survey, Il I'm all in. The ligs up
He fumble.i IN the pocket 81 his evening waist
coat. finally took out the little bottle OF
strvchnlne he had bought. In almost any
circumstances but Just these he would have
spurned the ,ea cowardlv In all his rest
less. chaotic career. with It's occasional ups and
ITS many savage downs he had never met a
situation he could not face boldly. Poverty,
crime. peril OF liberty and HE, all the worst
storms of life. had ragged IT him. had butteted
him without breaking his courage But this
What was there to do but die and tree her,
The doctor would smooth it over, might per-
haps even 50 C"ntrive that she'd never know
lust how nc happened to Kill himself; and she
Was vo,!ng and would recover, and would
forget.
He put the little bottle back in his pocket.
He mad taken It out merely to make sure that
II luck had not pursued him even to the
point Of somehow cutting off his line of
retreat with the remnants Of honor When
they lead me away to Jail, he said to HIM
self. =" ! Il make a quick Sldestep: not before
We nothing but two-Spot lett IN my hand;
beautiful night, with the moon lust rising.
Her windows are this side of the house,
he reflected The moon there is shining on
her. Well, kitten, one more play,
HE went back TO the game, his long cigar
- N the corner OF his mouth. his straw hat
at rakish angle: but his face a sick,
CHASTITY white and his eyes looked out through
heavy blue black circles. They We're playing
i,ickpots-ten dollars to come in, ten to open.
lack tossed two red chips into the heap, drew
Two cards Tor Il flush missed. Comegys, the
copper millionaire. bet ten: Fallon it,
raised t ten. Jack looked at his hand, found
he had caught Il second queen, called Comegvs
had opened on aces, but had gwen up one OF
them to try for Il flush; he had caught sec
ond knare. Delaney glanced toward Fallon,
- What YOU got. asked he,
Queens. pair. said Fallon.
Ne too" SAID Jack. What's high:"
Ace said lack. He laughed that cool,
pleasant. unpleasant laugh Of his, the laugh
.hat made men set him down a cold propo-
S,tlon.
First time you've Won tonight" said
Fallon with d sheer. He had been losing heav-
I1v 10 COmegys, and was no more pleased at
being separated from his money than any
other sport, professionalism otherwise
First time I've won in two weeks, replied
lack. Its the bunch from Fate I've been
waiting for Now the Delaney family begins
20 playi
In the next two hours he lost once, a pot of
about two thousand dollars; but it made
small impression on the mountain of his win
nlngs. When Harper was too weary and
Comegvs too drunk to continue the game,
Jack Delaney had twelve thousand dollars
the largest sum he had ever possessed at any
one time IN his whole life.
Good business. lack" congratulated Fall
lon, he bidding him good night, after
the settlement.
Far conceded Jack, dividing his win
nings INTO three great rolls for as many
pockets
But | never knew you drank like that
Drink What"
You emptied two quart bottles of rye"
Delaney looked at the stained and Uttered
table. laughed Il thought it was water
SAID he
You're lucky dog, Jack. thought you
were headed straight for hell"
was he replied = went through it.
came out the other side. The road to
heaven runs straight through hell, you know.
The point Is not TO stop. Crowd 'em Always
crowd en- And he went iauntily away,
presently TO march with almost a swag-
ger INTO the parlor OF that expensive private
suite.
But there his Inanner-and his heart
changed. He stood beside his sleeping bride
his strong Young shoulders heaving. He
dropped TO his knees and prayed, to whom
he did not know. nor about what
Halt hour later, with his huge roll of
bills pinned in the pocket Of his pale blue