Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-05-13


moody. So far fortune had not smiled,
she had frowned persistently. They
found vacant bench and sat down.
"Ho-hum!" said Merrihew, dangling
his monocle to which he had attached
a string.
"Heigh-ho!" replied Hillard.
Curse those cfgars!"
with all my hearth"
They had searched Nice, and
Monaco, and Mentone, but the women
they sought were not to be found.
They decided, therefore, that the wom-
en- had gone on to Paris, and that there
was now no hope of seeing them this
side of the Atlantic. They had not
entered the Casino during the day;
they had been too busy quizzing hotel
porters and concierges along the Ri
viera. .
My system needs tonic" said
Merrihew.
We'll hold the funeral after to-
nights play. OF all the damfool games
it's roulette"
and can prove it, Merrihew re-
piled. 81 have just fifty dollars left"
He took out the gold and toyed with
1t. Cant you hear it?" he asked.
Hear what?"
The swan-song of these tender
napoleons!"
Merrihew had played the numbers,
the dozens, the columns, the colors,
odd and even. Sometimes he would
win little, but a moment later the
relentless rake would drag it back to
the bank. His chance to play the
good Samaritan to the derelicts of the
American Comic Opera company was
fast approaching the dim horizon of
lost opportunities Presently he
screwed the monocle into his eye and
squinted at the sea, the palaces on
the promotory, the yachts in the har-
Dor, all tranquil in shadowy moon
light
Nature has done this very prettily.
Quite clever with her colors, don't
you know" he drawled, picking the
down on his upper lip, for he was try
ing to raise mustache, convinced
that two WaXed points of hair at each
corner of his mouth would impress the
hotel walters and other facchini =
baseborn. =
Don't be a jackass!" Hillard was
out of sorts.
"You agreed with me that I was one.
Why not let me make finished pro-
duct?" good-humoredly.
you will have your joke"
Yes, even at the expense of being
blind in one eye; for l can't see
through this glass; positive stove-lid.
Every time focus you, you grow as
big as house. No, I'd never be happy
as lord. Well let us have our last
fling. You might as we'll let me have
my letter of credit now"
You will not set eyes upon it till
we return to Genoa. That's final. |
know you, my boy, and l know Monte
Carlo. Even with your fifty, a watch
and ring, I'm afraid to trust you out
of sight"
81 can see that you. will never for
give nor forget-those cigars. Come
on. Well take a look at our Italian
friend He's a bad loser. have seen
him lose his temper too. It's my
opinion that he's a desperate man."
"They usually are when they come
to Monte Carlo
So they walked round to the en-
trance to the gaming halls, where the
lights, the gowns, the jewels, the
sparkling eyes, the natural beauty and
the beauty Of enamel, the vague per-
fumes, the low murmur of voices, the
soft rustic of silks, the music of ring
ing gold, all combine to produce
picture and ensemble as beautiful as a
mirage and as false. Nothing is real
in Monte Carlo but the little pieces of
gold and the passion to win them The
two renewed their tickets of admission
and passed On into the famous atrium.
stared Il while at the news bulletin,
whereon all the important events of
the day are briefly set forth, and
gazed musingly at the bats darting
| across the ceiling, real bats, sinister
omen such as one sees in imaginative
| paintings of the Door of Hades At
nine they Joined the never-ending pro-
cession which passes in and out of the
swinging doors day after day, year
after year.
| The faces one sees in the Hall of
Roulette! Here and there one which
will haunt the onlooker through the
rest of his days. Packed about the
| long tables were young faces flushed
with hope or grey with despair; mid
dle-aged faces which expressed excite.
| A1SHI Va lilulllCiSuCS, Olu, Olu ldCSS
SCARED and lined and scanned, where
avarice, selfishness, cruelty, dishon
esty crossed and recrossed till human
semblance was literally blotted out
Light-o'-loves, gay and careless; hid
eous old crones, who watched the m
wary and stole the unwary's bets; ole
women in black, who figured and
figured imaginary winnings and never
risked anything but their nerves. Ant
there were beautiful women, beautiful
ly gowned, beautifully gemmed, some
of them good, some of them Indifferent
and some of them bad Invariably
Hillard found himself specializing OF
the history of this woman or that; the
more gems, the more history. Here
the half-world of Europe finds it!
kingdom and rules 1t madly. The for
tunes these women have poured int
this whirligig of chance will never b,
computed. And there was the gentle
manly blackleg, the ticket-of-leav,
man, and the outcasts and thieves
but all Of them were we'll dressed, and
for the time being, well behaved.
Occasionally Merrihaw cauoht som,