The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1910-07-14

YOU Aakr -opidgcu t0WdFu my family
has e Q considerate. and | VIII
never forgcr it, The-the hospitality of
a house IN mourning
mo. nc, my boy" interrupted No
rean. again employing his .fatherly
hand. Il am sensible of the honor.
but / couldn't think of it. This is a
time when yoh all must wish to be
alone. and business calls me north. |
merely stepped ashore in yoh interests
as any gentleman would have done.
There goes the bell. and / must run
for it. Honored, sub, to have made
yoh acquaintance. though of co'se l
deeply deplore the necessity which oc-
casioned it. 1 will venture to pay M
respects to yoh family when / return
south, and pray command me in any
occasion yoh may have. Yoh ser7ant,
sub" And with a magnificent bow
the colonel turned and raced for the
gangplank. boarding the Shotwell with
a leap that shamed his fifty odd years.
Meanwhile Cameo Kirby, a bullet
through his right lung, was making a
desperate battle against death, fight
Liz LUZ LAG 114S WHICH, AG Adu COuSlu-
cred little better than worthless. In
his efforts he was materially assisted
by the crude but faithful Bunce, his
gambling partner, with whom he had
played up and down the Mississippi
for years. For two weeks this com
bat ragged, Kirby lowering between life
and death, but at the end he emerged
kr4Vx 4-1. 64-a-S1- AoLI-
when the odds were as heavily against
him, he had emerged from many a
hotly contested conflict
To those who judged Kirby's charac-
ter from the evil reports which gossip
had spread concerning him and to 9TH
ers who, in their righteous ignorance,
considered all gamblers legitimate chill
dren of the devil his remarkable re-
covery would have been accepted mere
ly as another proof that the evil one
faVors his own, that the mills OF the
gods grind slowly, that justice is blind
and that a scoundrel is difficult to kill,
together with many similar ancient
and redoubtable maxims which igno-
rance and self righteousness love to
distribute on every fitting occasion.
Among -possessors Of the last men
toned attribute Eugene Kirby was
regarded as a black sheep who, re-
ligiously avoiding the whitewash
brush, was deemed beyond redemp-
ton, for what man worthy Of the
name would have acted as had the
last of the Kirbys? What II he had
been but fifteen when his father died
a bankrupt? What If he had been
left an orphan. a pauper, with no i'm
mediate relative to care how he acted?
Wasn't the heritage Of an ancient and
honorable name, the knowledge that
some of the Oldest and best blood in
all the south flowed In his veins,
enough to keep him straight? Most
assuredly it was. There was abso-
lutely no excuse for his drifting in
with wild and dissolute companions,
becoming a common river gambler and
rendering notorious and obnoxious a
name which had hitherto been the
synonym for honor and integrity.
Kirby had been kept in ignorance
Of Mr.. Randal1's suicide, but when at
length he became c-onvalescent Lar
kin Bunce, barking back to the events
Of that memorable night, informed
him, and the invalid, on his part, re-
counted the occurrences preceding
Colonel Moreau's precipitation Of the
honorable" combat.
"The news Of Mr.. Randall's death is
a great shock" he added, greatly
ed. "He vas my fathers friend.
Bunce, and when the devil played
havoc with our affairs did all in his
power to be of assistance. But for
my great pride l would have accepted
his offer Of guardian and, under his
supervision, 1 hope, would have been
q credit to the name instead of the
disgrace / am"
"Now, you quit these here postmor-
tems.' demonstrated Bunce good ma
turedly, but firmly. You don't call me
a disgrace, do you? And amt 1 your
old side partner? Bosh, if you play
the game straight l guess there's lots
of worse ways of making a living than
gambling The sawbones said a lot
of rest was coming your way. so just
turn over on the other side and for
get it"
mo, l can't, Bunee. Don't you re
alize the position in which 1 am placed
by Mr.. Randalrs death? / hold a deed
to his entire plantation. and | must
sign a release without delay. What
if it should eve be thought that / en-
tered the game in earnest. with the
deliberate intention Of robbing Mr..
Randall? You know my reputation"
he added bitterly, land how easy it is
Cor a dog to earn a bad name Bring
me pen and ink at n C Larkin, If You