The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1912-03-15
cHAPTER m.

After that bitter disappointment his
interest In his personal appearance
dwindled to the negligible. In a black
temper with himself (whom alone he
blamed for the deception to which
he had fallen too facile a victim) he
searched blindly for fresh tie, found
II somehow, and knotted It round his
collar in the most haphazard fashion
imaginable. Then he shrugged & dress
coat upon his shoulders and marched
forth to dine.
In this humor he propelled himself
with determination into the public res
taurant of the establishment, and, OBJ
livious to the allure of many pairs of
bright eyes that frightened all too
readily to challenge his, insisted upon
table all to himself. and dined In soil
tary grandeur, COMFORTING himself
openly as morose and misunderstood
person. and to his waiter with a man.
ner 80 near rude that the latter be-
gan almost to respect him.
After some time he was Disguised to
discover that he felt better. An i'm
pulse toward analysis led him to probe
The psychology of the change. with the
result that he laid the blame for it at
the door-or the neck-of half-bottle
of excellent burgundy. SO he ordered
another. and. resolutely dismissing
from his mind the woman who had
no right whatever to be able to sing
a certain song the way She had, set
fd vtff ~, he a. 10 NJ
morrow.
To a man whose trade was fighting,
the world Just then was most dis
tressful place. too peaceful entirely.
Over his coffee the adventurer nod
ded in despair and frowned in dis
gust; then rousing. he summoned the
waiter and paid his reckoning with
secret grin at himself. fifty.franc
note and a gesture which splendidly
obliterated altogether every trace of
suspicion that he intended to take
back any part of the change due him,
.--C-.sng anu ,"ghting cigar. he
reviewed the restaurant VIM a lIsr.
less eye which discovered no one Of
his acquaintance; therefore, with
neither haste nor waste of time, he
rose and betook himself to the Casino
that Is. to the one place where one
may feel certain of encountering, soon
er or later. everybody who is anybody
within tn, bounds of the principally.
This night. more particularly than
on any preceding it. now that he had
made up his mind to seek betterment
OF his fortunes elsewhere. he played
heedlessly. little concerned with the
fate OF what money he had about him.
He had set aside reserve fund sufn-
Client to settle his hotel bill and carry
him a considerable distance into the
unknown which he was resolved to
bearl. and was resigned to lose
the remainder. II was tenet of his
creed of fatalism that chance seldom
favored hil when he had money in
his pockets; the tide of his affairs
must be at its lowest ebb ere il turn.
ed. His policy then was Obvious
childishb plain: be must ding to the
winds all that which he had
Now never was there a man who
played to lose who didn't win his
point Colonel ORourkes case can be
cited as no exception to this rule Ell.
bow to elbow on one side with en- art
less old lady from Terre Haute, who
risked her minimums with the Zero
cious jealousy OF miser making an
unsecured loan. on the other with an
latent little Austrian gambler absorb
ed in the workings OF his system"
the adventurer scattered gold upon
the numbered and Illuminated grid
iron as unconcernedly as though he
had been matching shillings. and saw
the coins gathered IN by the greedy
rake as often Gs the little ivory bail
ceased to chatter on the wheel.
For the better part OF an hour this
continued. And the little group Of
sycophants which had gathered be-
hind bis chair to watch his play IN.
sensibly dissipasod. A whisper ran