The Whitefish pilot. [volume] (Whitefish, Mont.) 1904-current, 1910-04-28

4 4 III nlm tenderlc and he
smiled back aDstractedly. AS man
sometimes will when his mind tries to
gather III Complementary thought
and Il picture which are totally differ
ent Before him in neat little lustrous
stacks stood 1000 francs in gold. $50
eftigies of Napoleon the Little"-7.OOO
francs. $1,000. more than half the
sum Of his letter of credit!
He counted of ten coins and placed
them on the second dozen. The ball
rolled iuto No. %. He leaned back
again with SECOND sigh. and the pref
ty woman smiled u 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 aud $50
10 be sure. he lost now aud then. bat
the next play he doubled and retrieved.
oh. the American Comic Opera COM
pany should be well taken care Of!
Two more bets and then he would
pocket his winnings and go He laid
40 francs on No. 20 and 400 on black.
leaned upon his elbows and studied the
spoke EnGlish-Le scribb!ed the Ques-
ton Oh scrap Of paper and pushed it
across the table. blushing little rs
he did so. She read it. or at least
she tried to read it. and shook her head
with the Nair 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!
Merrihew slid back his chair and
rose. He swept up the gold by the
handful and poured it into his pockets.
casually and unconcernedly. as If 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. 5000 francs: A merry music they
made in his pockets-jingle. jingle.
Jingle: And then he saw Hillard COM
ing across the hall. Instantly he
forced the JOY from his face and eyes
and dropped his chin in his collar. He
became in that moment the picture Of
desolation.
Ills it all over:" asked Hillard grave
~.
"AlI over" monotonously.
"Come over to the cafe. then. I've
something important to tell you"
"Found ,hem:" with rousing interest
IL shall tell YOU only when we get
out of this place. Come"
Hillard put out friendly hand.
~ am sorry. boy. ! wanted you to
win something. Cheer up! Wen
shake the dust of this place in the
morning"
'Oh. for Il vacant lot and good old
whooper-up: Feel.' cried Merrihew,
touching his side pockets.
"What is it:' asked Hillard
"What is it? 1t is $50 napoleons!"
"What?" sharply. even doubtfully.
''That's what: Eighteen hundred
dollars! My system will have no
funeral tonight"
He caught Hillard by the sleeve and
fairly ran him over to the cafe.
NEARLY two thousand!" murmured
Hillard. "Well. of all the luck!''
ut does seem too good to be true
I say. what's the matter with your
cravat?"
Hillard looked down at the flutter
ing end and reknotted it carelessly.
II saw Kitty tonight" he said.
To Merrihew it seemed that all tho
clatter about him had died away sud
denly. He breathed deeply. Where i.
she!''
"I'll explain what has happened"
Merrihew listened eagerly.
"And why did you bother about tn.
Italian" he interrupted. "Why didn'
you bold on to Kitty
II confess 1t was stupid Of me. bu
the gentleman with the scar was M
unknown quantity. Besides. why
should Kitty run away from me Of al
persons? And why. when l spoke t.
them in the casino. did they ignor
me completely"
Its your COMPOUNDED prima donna
Shes at the bottom Of all this tax,
my word for 1t. Something's desper
ately wrong Persons do not veal
masks und hide In this manner JUS
for lark. Why didn't you knock hin
. DOWN."
II wanted to. but it wasn't the psy
Geological moment. You can't knOcl
a man down when he practically sur
renders"
You're too particular. But WHAT
the matter with Kitty? don't under
stand TO see you was to know tina
l was round somewhere. She ran
away from me as well as from you
What shall we dO!"
"Start the hunt again or give it III
, entirely. There are some villages be
tween here and Nice. 1t must be II
! that direction. They were about t
board the car for Nice. If you hadn'
been gambling. if you had been sensi
| BILE and stayed with me-
+ Come. now. that won't wash. YO,
r know very well that you urged me t
NAV"