WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11244, 9 April 1902, Page 10

WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS.

BT HORAC* WItDWAT. Monte Corlo was the scene of this little adventure. _, The season was early June. The gar- ! dens were eweet with a thousand odours and silvery with moonlight; but in the Casino there were glaring lights, and a heat that seemed to strike upon the top of ones head, and the scents that are bad counterfeits of flowers. \ young gentleman named Wilmot, whom I hack met in Paris, had dined with mc at the hotel, and we had then strolled across to the place where visitors are expected to spand their money in the purchase of nervous prostration. I had never visited this temple of absurdity before, but Wilmot, who had spent some years abroad, had been there often— much oftener, in fact, than any real friend of his would have wished. On this occasion he lost about twenty louis without winning a bet. . "Well, well!" he cried. "I'm not •in i luck to-night. Aren't you going to play? I confessed that I coud see nothing in the sport. I, had tried it esewhere and had found that gambling is the most disappointing of all the polite vices. All the seats at the table were opcnpted, but there was no great crowd about. Two or three men -were dodging here and there to lay their bets, but we had room to spare at the end of the board,, where we remained a while to watch the faces of the players. There were no great gains or losses. I was interested principally in two women who sat side by sidle, one of them mildly •successful, the other steadily losing. It was amusing to observe that the woman who lost was angry with the woman who won, and not with the croupier who swept in her money, nor with herself for being so foolish as to play- ' Among those who lost was a young gentleman with a typical Yankee countenance and the tall, thin figeire that matches it. I ■ sympathised with him because he was of the Anglo-Saxon race/ and because he was a long way from home, and so might be more seriously embarrassed by the sort of indiscretion which the place was built to encourage. -I observed that his. eye was always on the.wheel'when the ball was rolling, and that when it'fell in the wrong place he started as if with a spasm of pain."I had seen him lose two hundred francs upon the numbers 31, 32, and' 33, when a very charming young woman, ' simply dressed, and escorted by a youth who-look-ed as if he might be "the brother .of ■ the player, approached the table and addressed the object of my interest. He had ho seat, but was reaching over between two to lay down his bets.

At the eound of tha woman's voice he straightened up, withholding his money, and turned to speak to her. TUeir eonverstition was surely, no business of mine, and I moved aside, but I could not help hearing her beg * him to coma away. She was not insistent, and she veiled her anxiety beneath some thin excuse of a social duty that he was neglecting ; yet the essence of the affair was obvious. ■ ■ - I felt a strong desire to take the young man by the collar and march him 'out of the place, but the etiquette of Monte Carlo forbids-such help from, man to man. So I remained passive, while the croupier announced the number 32. The yoima woman,, whom I rightly judged to be the wife of the player; turned away, hiding considerable vexation.- ; She had accomplished nothing except that she bad prevented her husband from putting down his money at a time when be ■would, have/won. ;\ ;. :.'.-'-' Though I felt that any gains he might make would only bind mm. more'securely to a folly that could have but one ending, I'was bo full of human frailty as to , wiah that he might, win. ~,■•. - It was not possible from where I stood to watch the rolling ball' with any. accuracy, 'or to get a notion where it :would> fall even in the very laefc instant,- bu£ <he .was nearer, and- his. face told met unmistakably- when th« infernal bit of ivory -narrowly missed his numbers.

In half ari hour not one of them-had won, and the croupier bad changed' {he lost of the notes from roH ,wMoh had been tightly clutched in the young man's left hand. ' His last supply of- five franc pieces quickly vanished and he began to bet petite monnaie from, hk. pockets. . He had a surprising quantity of silver, and whenever I fancied he had , come to the- end of it he would thrust a oeryous hand into another pocket and bring forth the value of one more bet. ■ ■ -

I .think, however, that his last five franc piece was on the board when the croupier called 32. The young man had upon this cumber the value of ore francs—the smallest sum that may be bet at Monte Carlo. When the bet had been paid he had one hundred and eighty francs. . . ' : With this encouragement he laid down his money more liberally, and almost immediately won agpin upon 31. - ~ Then I could see in Vis eyes that hope was alive in him. It always seems so natural' that .fate .should r relent The element of pity in the', human heart is shocked by the brutality of chance,'and is slow to believe that the ultimate intention can be bad.

It may have seen£ed only fair to this young gentleman that he should have a turn of luck upon bis List coin, and should win enough to recompense him for hie sufferings. He wiped the tweat from his brow and went into the silly struggle with a new >r '" r;; ">: . T ~* " - But the little itory ball that cawi nothing for him or, for'his sacred obligations to hie wife, refused to perform the small "service that was requisite. Instead it. tantalised him by failing into 17, which ie on one side of 32, and then into 20, which is on the other. t And I coyld see the poor fellow's heart leap in his bosom.

Watching this performance, 1, I got my first comprehension of. the -, gambling. passion, which has for its basis a fatuous pugnacity^—an aimless, , agonising resistance' to an impalpable foe.

At the outset I. wished this man to stop playing. I knew that he was doing a foolish thing. At the last I nearly wished him to win, and I saw his coin dwindle with no more rational, feeling than sorrow and wrath that he must stop—give up—go away beaten.

I remembered hearing that an English nobleman, Lord Arrelsford, whose wealth had been a byword on the Continent since -the recent death of his uncle, had won fortyfive thousand" francs on the day before our arrival. Why could not such luck come to this man who needed it, rather than to that Croesus To whbm'teh times the sum would be of no importance?

When one asks "Why, v wfry?" he is beginning to- be'a gambler; for a sane man knows there is no why in the matter. "That man .is losing more than be can afford," whispered Wumot. "I dotffc like the look of him."

"Nor 1," -was my rejoinder. "Confound those numbers! Why don't they come?" "They won't show'again," said Wilmot, with the confidence of an experienced gambler who is always deceived with the notion that he has some small insight into the ways ol chance. "He is on his last legs!'' ' I don't think he has another franc in his pockets." said I, "but it looks as if he were going to make another search." "So youVe noticed that hand, of bis, ehT

Its hovering around his hip pocket, and it's not money he has tnere. "You don't mean- : . . j titm__*. . "I mean just that," whispered Wilmot, "He wouldn't be the first man wW .hot: himself over that table. The croupiers are watching him." _ . . , utvj "Gracious heavens!" I exclaimed. 'Did: you see bis wife?" • ,„ »' **Wihnot nodded, with his eyes full of meaning. „ , ~ j^, "This is a terrible place," he 'Edge over a little nearer to him, and if he loses his next bet. look out!" " , The croupier called 5. Our friend had three coins remaining. He covered 31, 64, and 33. Again the ball whirled around. It seemed to mc that it rolled for half an hoar before it fell sharply against one of the divisions of the wheel and bounced back. I waited for the croupier's word, but the ball had not come to rest. > It was spinning like a top on the edge Of the wheel, upheld only by the force of its rotation, and seemingly fixed on the revolving disk. I got a glimpse of it, and it was poised above the number 32. Immediately it fell with a little click. "Twenty, black, even, and above! called the croupier. And I saw our young gentleman's hand go trembling to his hip pocket, while his figure straightened rigid-

ly. I laid my loft hand upon his sleeve, and he turned like a flash.

"Don't do it," I said in a low voice, 'Think of her."

"Why, what the devil do you mean?" he demanded, and drew forth his hand •hastily. I 'had a firm grip on him before I parceived that what he had taken from has pocket was not a revolver but a pocketbook. The sight staggered mc, and yet in the tenth part of a second I perceived that his intentional folly was really almost as bad as the one I anticipated. By his anxiety I knew that the money in the pocketbook must ba a reserve, the loss of which would leave him stranded.

It was 'hard to say that- which I knew should be said; but at that moment I caught a glimpse of his wife and brother approaching somewhat hastily through the long rooms. "Pardon an entire stranger for taking an interest in your affairs," said l l, "but you know I'm an Englishman, and you are an American,' and I really cannot—-—" "Well, upon my word!" he cried in astonishment.

"And you—you really mustn't lose any more money. 'You're not Lord Arrelsford, you know. You cannot afford——"

"Bless my soul!" he said slowly as he fixed his bright blue eyes upon. mc. "I really like your impudence. If I'm. not Lord Arrelsford, wiho the deuce am I? You may know more than I do about my financial situation, but, by George, sir, I know my own name! ,.

Lord Arrelsford turned to the table and took from his pocketbook a sum of money that madte mc dizzy. . When I recovered consciousness, Wilmot was leading mc away. •» ■