The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1909-10-28
CHAPTER XIII.

ht Dim teuueftg. huu ut
smiled back abstractedly. as man
sometimes viii when his mind tries to
gather 10 comprehensisely n thought
and picture which are totally differ
ent Before him In neat little lustrous
stacks stood 1900 francs In gold, $50
effigies OF Napoleon the Little. 900
francs. xl.s00 more than half the
sum OF his letter OF credit!
lie counted on ten coins and placed
them on the second dozen. The ball
rolled into No. %. He leaned back
again with second sigh. and the pret
ty woman smiled second smile. and
the wooden rake pushed the beautiful
gold over TO him lie was playing
system, one bet IN every three turns
/ Of the wheel In stakes Of $40 and $50
/ TO be sure, he lost now and then. but
/ the next play he doubled and retrieved.
4 Oh, the American Comic Opera com
pany should be well taken care of
/ Two more bets aud then he would
pocket his winnings and go. He laid
40 francs on No. 26 and 400 on black
4 leaned upon his elbows and studied the
I pretty woman, who smiled. If she
spoke English-he scribbled the ques
tion on scrap Of paper and pushed II
across the table, blushing little as
be did so She read II. or at least
she tried to read II, and shook her head
with the air OF one deeply puzzled.
He sighed again, rejecting that there
might have been a pleasant adventure
had he only understood French.
Twenty.six, black and even!
Mcrrihew slid back bis chair and
rose He swept up the gold by the
handful and poured II into his pockets.
casually and unconcernedly, as II this
was an everyday affair and Of minor
Importance. But as . matter Of fact
bis heart was beating fast. and there
was wild desire In his throat to yell
with delight Eighteen hundred dol
lars. 1900 francs! A merry music they
made In his pockets--jlngle. Jingle,
llnglel And then he saw Hillard com |
Ing across the ball. Instantly he
forced the Joy from his face and eyes |
and dropped bis chin In his collar. He
became In that moment the picture OF
desolation
rs It all overT asked Hillard grave.
ly-
IAN over" monotonously.
Come over to the cafe. then. I've
something important to tell you"
Found them?" With rousing interest
Il shall tell you only when we get
out OF this place. Come"
Hlllard put out friendly hand.
Il am sorry. boy, | wanted you to
win something Cheer up! Wen
shake the dust Of this placo In the
morning"
''0h, for vacant lot and a good old
whooper-upl Feer' cried Merrihew.
touching his side pockets.
What In III" asked Hillard.
What Is It? II 10 45O napoleonsw
"Whati" sharply. even doubtfully.
That's what! Eighteen hundred
dollars! My system VIII have no
funeral tonight"
He caught Hilard by the sleeve and
fairly ran him over to the cafe.
NEARLY two thousandl' murmured
Hillard. We'll. OF all the luck"
1T does seem too good to be true.
] say. what's the matter with your
rravatT
fiillard looked down at the 6utter.
ing end and reknotted It carelessly.
Il saw Kitty tonight" he said.
To Merrihew II seemed that all the
CHATTER about him had died away sud
denly. He breathed deeply, Where Is
sher'
-i'll explain what has happened"
Merrinew listened eagerly
And why did you bother about the
itslian7" he interrupted. why didn't
you bold on TO KittyT
= confess II was stupid Of me. but
the gentleman with the scar was an
unknown quantity. Besides. why
should Kitty run away from me Of all
personsf And why. when ! spoke to
them In the casino. did they ignore
me compieteiyY'
Its your coufounded priIna donna
She's at the bottom Of all this. take
my word for IT. Something's desper-
stely wrong Persons do not wear
masks and hide In this manner Just
for lark. Why didn't you knock him
DOWN
Il wanted TO. but Il wasn't the psy-
Geological moment You can't knock
a man down when he practically sur
renders"
You're too particular. But what's
the nintter with Kitty don't under
stand TO see you was to know that
was round somewhere She ran !
away from me as wen rs from you
What shall we dor"
Start the hunt again or give II up
entirely. There are some villages be- .
tween here and Nice II must be In ,
that direction They were about 10 /,
board the car for Nice. II you hadn't
been gambling n you bad been sensi. I,
bic aud stayed with me-
Come, now. thar won't wash. Yon
know very well that you urged me 10 4
oisy."
You would have played without any
irging" t,
And who ls this itsiian any howY' !
lsked Merribew. And why did he !,
un afser your prina donnsr'
That IL precisely what wish 10 !.
lid cot" answered Hiilsrd
I'm afraid that Kitty has fsijsn !,