Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-12-24
T iiction
CALLED DOWN.
BY DOUGLAS z. DoTy.

BY birth gentleman, by force Of
circumstances jack Of all trades, by
profession a raconteur.
Such was my record when I arrived
In England, whittier the fame of my
stories had preceded me. Almost di-
rectly received a letter from Lord
Brewer Of Tentowers castle, in Sur
rey, requesting me to come down to
his place, as he was entertaining a
large house party.
The castle, founded as monastery,
was nfost romantic pile, representing
in its various towers and wings sue
cession of architectural periods. It's
maze Of winding corrid ors and hidden
stairways suggested mystery land in
vited exploration.
My initial appearance before Lord
| Brewers guests was to be at dinner,
and spent the last moments before
leaving my apartments, in reading over
the list Of topics had jotted down for
use during the evening. A raconteur
is expected to fill in every lull, every
dull moment. Suddenly there fell upon
the quiet of my room these significant
words: "
"we must run it up to $4,000 tonight!
Do you hear7 We must!' & -,
stared around the room. It seemed
as ii the sound had come through
some dull tapestry in a small aieove.
Perhaps the tapestry covered secret
door. But there was no time to tnves-
tigate. A resplendent footman was
waiting to conduct me to Lord Brow
er's presence. &c. a "a.
| An interesting lot they were gather
ed around the dinner table of Tentow-
ers castle that night that is, they
were interesting to me as types for
study. AS onversationalists they were
failures, for the only subjects on
which they talked fluently were cards
and horseflesh.
! / selected my stories accordingly.
The guests were apparently familiar
with the customs Of Monte Carlo, but
told them tales of our own wild west,
of games of faro and poker that fairly
made them gasp, and after dinner l
must teach them our national game OF
! chance.
Sitting opposite me at table was a
| broad shouldered, dark man, whose
leyes, black and set rather close to-
gether, never left my face. His lips
were thin and bloodless, and his long,
| rather aquiline nose had cruel curve
about the nostrils. But what most at
tracted my attention was his odd trick
Of drumming almost constantly with
his right hand, now on the table, now
on the arm Of his chair and now on
his square chin. The instant he spoke
I recognized the voice back of xthe
tapestry in my room His name was
Captain Marchand
His wife sat at my right, hand
some woman, with a profusion of soft
4 brown hair and beautiful blue eyes,
which, i learned in short time, We're
playing havoc with the mental peace
/ of a young fellow named Chadwick.
/ who was plainly jealous of every
smile the lady wasted on me. He was
a handsome, boyish looking fellow,
one of those chaps who imagine them
! selves violently in love with every
pretty face they meet.
Mrs. Marchand seemed to have
caught her husbands peculiar trick of
beating that devilish tattoo with her
fingers. 1t fairly got my nerves on
edge, but no one else at the table ap-
peared to notice it. I caught myself
recalling stories Of telegraph operators
| who continued their work automatical-
| ly after Office hours, but surely these
two guests Of an English aristocrat
knew nothing Of trade. In the course
OF my eventful and uncertain life
had been an operator for a short pc
riod.
After the ladies' had Withdrawn
| told my choicest stag stories, to which
the men drank freely, and by the time
we rose to enter the drawing room 1t
can be truthfully said that Captain
Marchand and myself were the only
men of the party who were thoroughly
sober.
| During the next hour I was kept
busy explaining the intricacies OF polk
er, after which watched the guests
yield to the fascination Of the game.
Soon little piles Of sovereigns and
notes appeared and disappeared at the
/ various tables. Excitement grew apace,
and the very faces of the players were
transformed. The greed Of gain was
/ upon them. 1t was my first glimpse OF
the English aristocrat at his private
| gaming table.
Finally interest centered at the table
where Marchand and young ChadWick
held forth alone. At the beginning
! Chadwick had won, and with tri
! umphant gesture he would haul In his
little pile Of gold. The liquor had
brought sparkle to his eye and darint
to his tongue, for he kept Mrs. Mar
4 chand close at his side, declaring he
4 to be his mascot and casting such Ian
gushing glances into her perfect blue
eyes that wondered at Captain Mar
1 chand's calmness. When Chadwick
won she clapped her hands In girlisl
4 glee, and once or twice caught I
cynical smile ON Marchand's lips
4 Clearly her presence was going t
GhadWick's head. He played reckless