The Bourbon news., 1912-01-05
CHAPTER II.

After that bitter disappointment his
interest in his personal appearance
dwindled to the negligible. In black
temper with himself (whom alone he
blamed for the deception to which
he had fallen too facile victim) he
searched blindly for fresh tie, found
it 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
a table all to himself, and dined in solf-
| tary grandeur, comporting himself
| openly as a morose and misunderstood
| person, and to his waiter with man.
ner so near rude that the latter be-
gan almost to respect him.
After some time he was disgusted to
Fdiscover 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 1t at
the door-or the neck-of a half-bottle
of excellent burgundy. So he ordered
another, and, resolutely dislnissing
from his mind the woman who had
no right whatever to be able to sing
| certain song the way she had, set
his wits to work on the riddle of To-
morrow.
To a man whose trade was fighting
the world just then was a 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 a
| secret grin at himself, a fifty-frane
obliterated altogether every trace o.
suspicion that he intended to take
back any part of the change due him
Trimming and lighting cigar, HI
reviewed the restaurant with a list
less eye which discovered no one o
; neither haste nor waste Of time, h
J rose and betook himself to the Casino
that is, to the one place where on
may feel certain of encountering, soon
t er or later, everybody who is anybod,
,, within the bounds of the principally
) This night, more particularly thai
!, on any preceding it, now that he ha
l made up his mind to seek bettermen
|. of his fortunes elsewhere, he playe
! heedlessly, little concerned. with tn
fate of what money he had about hin
e He had set aside reserve fund suff
cient to settle his hotel bill and carr
: him a considerable distance into tn
unknown which he was resolved
: beard, and was resigned to los
s the remainder 1t was tenet of hi
creed of fatalism that chance seldol
favored him when he had money
his pockets; the tide of his affair
-, must be at it's lowest ebb ere it turl
ed. His policy then was obvious
childishly plain: he must fling to tt
winds all that which he had.
Now never was there man WI
played to lose who didn't win b
point Colonel O'Rourke's case can
cited as no exception to this rule Z
bow to elbow on one side with an al
less old lady from Terre Haute, wi
risked her minimums with the fer
cious jealousy of a miser making {
unsecured loan, on the other with
intent little Austrian gambler absor
ed in the workings of his System
the adventurer scattered gold upt
the numbered and illuminated gri
iron as unconcernedly as though
had been matching shillings, and So
the coins gathered in by the gree
rake as often as the little ivory b;
ceased to chatter on the Wheel
For the better part of an hour tt
continued And the little group
sycophants which had gathered
hind his chair to watch his play
sensibly dissipated. A whisper T
through the ranks of the habitues til
the luck of the mad Irishman had tut
ed; and forthwith he ceased to be
object of interest. Only the lit
Austrian, having risked the numt
of stakes prescribed by his system
one evenings play. put away his no
book and pencil and, surrendering
- place to another Ies.-.5 -
~