Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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C0PYRlG?VT.i90fc. B^M'CCURiT.PHlXl.JPJ Sl~CO. .?T'C-J -jwI^ CLapier Oute MB# 1 N % (j^jjjjBS^jj^' ^ KK K was a young man in Monte Carlo. Ho I \ / ! 'Ia<l come in a motor oar, and ho had come u j /83Hu j?Vway, but ho hardly know why ho had conio. \ "(; hardly know in thoso days why ho did any- | 1 k=f^'" '3r:Tlv' thing. But, then, ono must do something. ^ > \J wouM be Christmas soon, and ho thought ) =rr^--~r=ir=J (11;11 ho would rather ti'ot it, over on the Riviera ! . j " I than anywhere olso, bccauso the bluo and gold . weather would not remind him of other Christmases whioh wore ! gone?pure, while, cold Christmases, musical with joy bolls and swoot with aromatic pine, the scent of trees born to bo Christmas trees. There had boon a time when ho had fancied it would be a wondorful thing to see the Riviera. Ho had thought what it would bo liko to be a rich man and bring a certain girl hero for a moon of honey and rosos. Sho was tho most beautiful girl in tho world, or he bolievod her bo, which is oxactly tho same thing, and ho had imagined tho joy of walking with her on just such a torraeo as this Casino terrace whero ho was walking now, alone. Sho would bo in white, with ono of thoso long ermine things that women call stoles, an ermine muff (tho big, . "granny'' kind that swallows girlish arms up to tho dimples in their elbows) and a hat which t.hev would have bought together in Paris. They would have bought jewels, too, in the same street where they found tho hat, tho lino do la Paix, which sho had told him sho longed ^ to see. And sho would bo wearing some of the jewels with tho white 1 dross?just a few, not many, of course. A string of pearls (she loved j pearls), a swallow brooch (ho had heard her say sho admired those swallow In lies, itnd he never forgot anything she said), with per- : haps ;i sapphire studded buckle on her white suede belt. Yes, that i would be all, except the rings, which would lie hidden under her I gloves on the dear little hands whoso nails were liko enameled rose i ? I loaves. When sho moved, walking bosido him on tho terrace, there would j bo a mysterious silky whisper and rustle, something liko that you hear in tho woods in the spring, when tho loaves arc crisp with their pale green youth, and you shut your eyes, ^ listening to tho breezo telling them the secrets of life. There would be a fragrance about tho white dross Jf And the laces and ermino and the silk things that you could not sec, a fragrance as mysterious as the rustling, for it. would seem to belong to tho girl and not f to have come from any bottle or bag of sachet powder?a sweet, fresh, indefinable fragrance, liko the smell of a tea rose after rain. They would have walked together, they two, and ho would have been so proud of her that every time a passerby east a glanco of admiration at her facts he would feel that, ho could hardly keep in a laugh of joy or a shout: ''She is mine! She is mine!" But he had been poor in the old days, when from far away ho had thought of this terrace and the moon of honey and roses and love. It had all been :i dream then, as it was now, too sweet ever to come true. Ilo thought of the dream and of tho boy who had tlreamed it half bitterly, half sadly, on this his lirst day in the place of the dream. lie was rich, as rich as he had seen himself in tho impossible picture, and it would have been almost too easy to buy the white dross and the ermine and the pearls, but there was no one for whom he would have been happy to buy them. The most beautiful girl in the world was not in his world now, and none other had had the password to open the door of his heart since she had gone out, locking it bo jliind her. 1 > "Sho would have liked the auto," ho saitl to himself, and then, a moment later, "I wonder why 1 came." It was a perfect Riviera day. Everybody in Monte Carlo who was not in tho Casino was sauntering on the terrace in tho sun, for it was that hour before luncheon when people like to say "llow do you do? How nice to moot you hero!" to their friends. The young man from far away had not, so far as ho know, either p, p" enemies or friends at Monte Carlo. ,c,'v v Jrlie was not conscious of the slightS /'W J $ 1 \^,7 est desire to <<ay "llow do you do? ^/nljffi| lu an.v t'l(! pi'ctty people he met, JrA^)Tw'jrwlalthough there is a superstition jk that every soul longs for kindred " *'1 *" ^ ip| souls at Christmas time. lie had not been actively unf happy before he loft the Hotel do J Paris and strolled out on tho terrace to have his first sight of Monte I Carlo bv daylight. Always thoro was the sore spot in his heart, and ' often it ached almost unbearably at night or when the world hurt him J with its beauty, which he must see without her, but usually he kept 1 ^ sP?t wt'^ covered up, and, being healthy as well as young, he had cultivated that kind of contentment which Thorcau said was only desperate resignation in disguise, lie took an interest in books, in politics and sport and motor cars and a good many other things, but on the terrace the blue of tho sea, the opal lights on the mountains, the gold glint of oranges among green, glittering leaves, the pearly g.iiiiiner of white roses thrown up like a spray against the skv, struck at his heart and mado tho ache come back moro sharply than it had for a long time. If ho had been a girl tears would have blinded his eyes; but, being what ho was, he merely muttered in anger against himself, "Hang it 1 all, what a wretched ass I am!" and, turning his back on the sea, mado J his way as fast as ho could into tho Casino. It was close upon 12 o'clock, and tho "rooms" had been open to the public for two hours. The "early gamblers" thronging tho atrium | to wait till the doors opened had run in and snatched seats for them- ! selves at tho first tables or marked places to begin at 11 o'clock if , crowded away from the first. Later loss ardent enthusiasts had j strolled in, and now, though it; was not by any means tho "high sea- j son," yet there were rows of players or lookers-on threo deep round j each table. The young man was from the south, though a south very different | from this, llo had tho warm blood of Virginia in his veins and just I so much of the gambler's spirit as cannot be divided {sjjliJVcsi ^ from a certain recklessness in a man with a temper*"HI I .? w anient. lie had seen plenty of life in his own counftry in the nine years since ho was twenty, and he knew all about roulotto and trcnte ct quarante, , among other things desirable and undesirable. Still, gambling seemed to be made particularly fascinating here, and he wanted to bo fascinated, wanted it badly. He was in tho mood for tho heavy , hush of tho rooms, for tho closeness and the rich perfumes which, mingling together, seem like tho smoll of money piled on the greon tables; ho wasin a mood for the dimmed light liko dull gold?gold sifted into dust by passing through many hands. Ho had got his ticket of admission to the Casino after arriving yesterday evening, but the rooms had not pleased him then. lie had not played and had merely walked through, looking at the people, but now he went to a tronto ct quaranto table, and, reaching over tho ; shoulders of tho players?not so many as in the roulette rooms?he put a 500 franc note on coulcur. It won. He let the money lie, and it won again. A third time and a fourth lie left tho notes on, and still j luck was with him. He was in for a good run. As it happened, nobody else had been playing higher than plaques, j the handsome hundred franc gold pieces coined for the principality of ' Monaco, jnul people began to watch the newcomer, as llioy always do ! on(! who plays high and is lucky. On the fifth deal lie had won the maximum, lie took off half and was leaving the rest to run when a voice close to his shoulder said: "Oh, do take it all off! 1 feel it's going to lose now. To please mo." He glanced aside and saw an exceedingly pretty, dark face, which j j looked vaguely familiar. With a smile he took up all tho notes, and j only just in time. Coulcur lost; inverse won. "Oh, I'm so glad!" said the owner of the pretty face. Sho spoko I English with a slight but bewitching foreign accent, and her eyes j | shone at him like brown jewels under the tilted brim of a hat made all of pink and crimson roses. She was rather like a rose, too, a rich, colorful, spicy rose, of tho kind which unfolds early. Ho knew that ho had seen her before and wondered where. After all, it was rather nicc to be spoken to by somo one other j j than a hotel manager or a waiter?some one who was good to look at j and friendly, lie lost interest in the game and gained interest in the l girl. "Thank you," said he. "You've brought me luck." "I hope you don't think 1 speak always to strangers like that," said | | the girl in the rose lint, lhit, you see, I recognized you at once. I j I don't know if you remember me. No, I'm afraid you don't." ! "Of course .1 remember you, only i. can't think where we"? "Why, it was in Paris. You saved my mother's little dog from j ! being run over one day. Wo wore both so grateful. Afterward we saw you once or twice at tea at the Kit/, and you took off your hat, so you must have remembered then. Ah, me, it's a long time ago!" "Not so very," said the young man. "I remember well now." IIo wished her mother had not been quite such an appalling person, fat and painted. "It was only last October. I'd just come to Paris. It was my first day there when I picked up the little dog. Now, on my j first day here you pay ino back for what I did then?as if it needed paying back!?by making 1110 pick lip my money. That's quito a coincidence." They had moved away from tho tables now and were walking very slowly down tho room. The young man smiled at the girl as he crushed up tho notes and stuffed them into his pocket. Ilo saw that she was much prettier than ho had thought her in Paris, if ho had thought of her at all, and her dress of pale pink cloth was charming with tho rose hat. Somehow he was glad that ! she was not in white?with an ermine stole. NV) "So it is, quite a coincidence, and a pleasant one A for me, since I meet aS^ain one who was once so } j kind," she said. "Especially it is good to meet a / ' tys friend?if I may call you a friend?when one is jjj very sad." ' $7* "Of course you may call mo a friend," said ho / kindly. "I'm sorry to hear you are sad." "That is why I told you the other meeting A j seemed a long time ago," explained the girl. "I was v \ happy then. Now I am breaking my heart, and I do j ) not know what to do. Oh, 1 ought not to talk like s ' this, for, after all, you are a stranger. But you aro English or you aro American, and men of those countries never misunderstand a woman, oven if she is in trouble. Wo can feel ourselves safe with them." "I'm American," ho answered, "and I'm glad you feel liko that. I wish I could help you in some way." Ho spoko kindly, but not with j absolute warmth of sincerity. The girl saw this and knew that ho did | not believe in her as she wished him to believe, as she intended to I make him believe. ' Sho looked up at him with sad and eloquent e his lit'uri in spito of himsc'f. "You can't help me, thank you," she ijgl said. 'v.vept l?v kind words ami kind thoughts. I think, though, that M \[ won! ! do me good to tell von tiling, if you really take an interest." ? -Of course I do." lie was speaking the truth now. lie was liu- ?|? man, and she was growing prettier, as she grew more pathetic, every .||J? moment. / "And would you advise me a little? I have nobody else to ask. H My mother and I know no one at Monte Carlo. Perhaps you would 1 walk with mo 011 the terrace and let 1110 talk i}> S "Not 011 the terrace," I10 said quickly, lor he could not bear to 1 meet the sweet ghost of tho past in tho white dress and ermine st0;0 ^J as ho gave advice to tho flesh and blood reality of tho present in the pink frock and roses. "What about Giro's? Couldn't wo lind your mother somewhere and get her to chaperon us for lunch? I should think il must be very jolly now in the Galevio Charles 1 rois." |H "00 it would be, but my poor mother is very ill in her bed," said' jW the girl. ""Would she?or- do you think, as T'111 an American and we're almost old friends, mind letting you have lunch just with 1110 alone ? Of course if she would mind you must . ' II? say no. But I must confess I'm V j 1* ** * 1 hungry as a wolf, and it would bo ? J somewhere to sit and talk together m "You are hungry?" echoed tho I! JnL )\ |/- girl- "All, I would wager some- ft | |j(fewajfri thing that you don't really know ? I ' Nf , P?-pr what hunger is. But I know? 5 ^ * "What do you mean ?" fl rj "I moan it is well my mother is V ill and doosn't wish to eat, for there would bo nothing for- her if sho did." "Good Heavens! And you ?" "I liavo had nothing to eat sinco yesterday morning, and then only a biscuit with a glass of wator." "My poor girl! We won't say anything more about chaperons. Come along with me to Ciro's this instant to lunch and tell mo everything." ILc was completely won over now and looked very handsome with a slight llusli on his brown face and his dark eyes bright with excite ment. " The girl lowered her long lashes, perhaps to hide tears. When she did this and drooped the corners of her mouth sho was very engaging, and the young man tingled all over with pity. That poor, pretty creature starving in her charming pink dress and hat of roses! ilow strange life was! It was something to be thankful, for that ho had met her. A little while ago ho had walked through tho Galerie Charles Trois, thinking how delightful the tables looked at Ciro's and making up his mind to return thero for lunch. But afterward on tho terrace he had been so miserable that ho would probably liavo forgotten all U about his plan if it had not been for tho giri. I Now he choso a small tabic in a corner of the balcony close to the glass screen. A month later he might have had to engage it long beforehand, but today, though the place was well filled with pretty women and their attendant men, there was not a crowd, and I10 could listen to his companion's low voiced confidences without fear of being overheard. J\ "J" C k er ordered a lunch which I10 thought the girl would f*'like, with wino to revive the faculties that lie knew ]1|] must be failing. Then, when she had eaten a little, g daintily in spite of her hunger, I10 encouraged her , . "Mother and I aro all alono in the world," slijo* said. "Wo are Belgian and live in Brussels, but wo havo drifted aborat a good deal, just amusing ourselves. Somehow wo never happened to come hero until a month ago. Then my mother said one day in Paris: 'Lot us go to Monto Carlo. I dreamed last night that I won 20,000 francs there.' My mother is rather superstitious. Wo came, and sho did win at first. She was delighted and bolioved in hor dream so much that when sho began to lose sho went up and up, doubling each a time. They call the gamo sho made 'playing tho martingale.' "She lost all the money wo had with us and telegraphed homo for A more. Soon she had sold out ovory one of our securities. Then sho M won and went half mad with joy and excitement, but tho joy didn't fg? last long. She lost all again?literally our all. Wo were penniless. There was nothing loft to pay tho hotel bill. I went out and found a Mont do Pieto, just beyond the limits of tho principality. They aren't Si allowed inside. I pawned all our jewelry, and, as we had a great many valuable things, I got several n9 : thousand francs. I thought the money would last ??? fl us until I could find something to do; but, without | telling me what sho meant to do, mother took it all ' I ; to tho Casino?and?it followed tho rest. 'Jmgs "She was so horrilied at what she had done, NH. , ffln wlion it was too late, that sho wished to kill horself. ^ 'flre It was a terrible timo for mo, but I was so sorry? jtpr^ HR so sorry for her." JHhB As tho girl said this sho lookod full into the young man's eyes with$j^HgK her great, appealing ones. He thought that she must havo a wonder-'jBWBj fully sweet nature to have forgiven that horrible fat old woman aftei/|B39 being subjected to so much undeserved suffering. It was a thousanoSH^K pities, lie said to himself, that a really good sort of girl should