F HEARTS]
AND
MASKS
By
HAROLD MacGRATH [
Authorof "The Man on the Box, "etc.
With Drawings by Harrison Fisher
Hi r
(Copyright, 1905, by Co.l
** CHAPTER I.
It all depends upon the manner of
your entrance to the Castle of Adven
ture. One does not have to scale its
beetling parapets or assault its scarps
and frowning bastions; neither is one
to force with clamor and blar
ing trumpets and glittering gorgets
tho drawbridge and portcullis. Rather
the pathway lies through one of those
many little doors, obscure, yet easily
accessible, latchless and boltless, to
which the average person gives no
•particular attention, and yet which in
variably lead to the very heart of this
Castle Delectable. The whimsical
chatelaine of this enchanted keep is
a shy goddess. Circumspection has no
part in her affairs, nor caution, nor
practicality; nor does her eye linger
upon the dullard and the blunderer.
Imagination solves the secret riddle,
and wit i 3 the guide that leads the
seeker through the winding, bewilder
ing labyrinths.
And there is something in being
•Idle, too!
If I bad not gone idly into Mou
quin's cellar for dinner that night, I
should have missed the most engaging
adventure that ever fell to my lot. It
is second nature for me to be guided
by impulse rather than by reason;
reason is always so square-toed and
Impulse is always so alluring. You
will find that nearly all thß great
■captains were and are creature 3 of
impulse; nothing brilliant is ever
■achieved by calculation. All tljis is
not to say that I am a great captain;
it is offered only to inform you that
I am often impulsive.
A Timeß, four days old; and if 1
hadn't fallen upon it to pass the
minutes between my order
and the service of it, I shouldn't have
made the acquaintance of the police
in that pretty little suburb over in
New Jersey; nor should 1 have met
the enchanting Blue Domino; nor
would fate have written Kismet. The
■clairvoyant never has any fun in this
•cycle; he has no surprises.
I had been away from New York
for several weeks, and had returned
only that afternoon. Thus, the spirit
•of unrest acquired by travel was still
upon me. It was nearly holiday week,
and those congenial friends 1 might
have called upon, to while away the
•evening, were either busily occupied
with shopping or were out of town;
• and I determined not togo 1o the club
■ and be bortd by some indifferent bil
liard player. I would dine quietly,
listen to some light music, and then
goto the theater. I was searching
tthe theatrical amusements, when the
column indifferently attacked
my eye. I do not know why it is, but
1 have a wholesome contempt for the
so-called society columns of the daily
newspaper in New York. Mayhap, it
Is because I do not belong.
I read this paragraph with a shrug,
•and that one with a smirk. 1 was in
<no manner surprised at the announce
ment that Miss High-Culture was go
ing to wed the Duke of Impecune; I
had always been certain this girl
•would do some such fool thing. That
Mrs. Hyphen-Bonds was giving a fare
well dinner at the Waldorf, prior to
her departure to Europe, interested
ray curiosity not in the least degree.
It would be all the same to me if she
never came back. None of the wishy
washy tittle-tattle interested me, in
fact. There was only one little six
line paragraph that really caught me.
On Friday night (that is to say, the
night of my adventures in Blankshire),
the Hunt Club was to give a charity
masquerade dance. This grasped my
adventurous spirit by the throat and
refused to let go.
The atmosphere surrounding the
■paragraph was spirituous with en
chantment. There was a genuine
novelty about this dance. Two packs
-of playing cards had been sent out as
tickets; one pack to the ladies and
one to the gentlemen. Charming idea,
wasn't it? These cards were to be
■shown at the door, together with ten
dollars, but were to be retained by
the recipients till two o'clock (supper
•time), at which moment everybody
was to unmask and take his partner,
who held the corresponding card, into
supper. Its newness strongly appealed
to me. I found myself reading the
.paragraph over and over.
By Jove, what an inspiration!
I knew the Blankshire Hunt Club,
■with its colonial architecture, its great
ball room, its quaint fireplaces, its
stables and sheds, and the fame of its
chef. It was one of those great coun
try clubs that keep open house the
year round. It stood back from the
sea about four miles and was within
livo miles of the village. There was
a fine course inland, a cross-country
going of not less than twenty miles,
a shooting-box, and excellent golf
links. l»i the winter it was cozy; in
the summei it was ideal.
. I was intimately acquainted with the
club's M. P. 11., Teddy Hamilton. We
had clone the Paris-Berlin run In my
racing car the summer before. If I
hadn't known him so well, I might
still have been in durance vile, next
door to jail, or securely inside. I had
frequently dined with him at the club
during the summer, and he had offered
to put me up; but as I knew no one
intimately but himself, I explained the
futility of such action. Hesides, my
horse wasn't a hunter; and I was rid
ing him less and less. It is no pleas
ure togo "parking" along the bridle
paths of Central Park. For myself, 1
want a hill country and something
like forty miles, straight away; that's
riding.
The fact that I knew no one but
Teddy added zest to the inspiration
which liaa seized me. For I deter
mined to attend tnat dance, happen
what might. It would be vastly more
entertaining than a possibly dull the
atrical performance. (It was!)
I called for a messenger and dis
patched him to the nearest drug store
for a pack of playing cards; and
while I waited for his return I casu
ally glanced at the other diners. At
my table—one of those long marble
topped affairs by the wall —there was
an old man reading a paper, and the
handsomest girl I had set eyes upon
in a month of moons. Sometimes the
word handsome seems an inferior ad
jective. She was beautiful, and her
half-hidden eyes told me that she was
anywhere but at Mouquin's. What a
head of hair! Fine as a spider's web,
and the dazzling yellow of a wheat
field in a sun shower! The irregu
larity of her features made them all
the more interesting. I was an artist
in an amateur way, and I mentally
painted in that head against a Rubens
jf" . i
wit
:'■■ • ' "7" I ~3i i
•. .' .. : : ; , • I • : -%- •<• - : -
It Was the Ten-Spot of Hearts.
background. The return of the mes
senger brought me back to earth; for
1 confess that my imagination had
already leaped far into the future, and
ihis girl across the way was nebulous
ly connected with it.
I took the pack of cards, ripped off
the covering, tossed aside the joker
(though, really, I ought to have re
tained it!) and began shuffling the
shiny pasteboards. I dare say that
those around me sat up and took no
tice. It was by no means a common
sight to see a man gravely shuffling a
pack of cards in a public restaurant.
Nobody interfered, doubtless because
nobody knew exactly what to do in
the face of such an act, for which no
adequate laws had been provided. A
waiter stood solemnly at the end of
the table, scratching his chin thought
fully, wondering whether he should
report this peculiarity of constitution
and susceptibility occasioning certain
peculiarities of effect from impress
of extraneous influences (vide Web
ster), synonymous with idiocrasy and
known as idiosyncrasy. It was quite
possible that 1 was the iirst man to
establish such a precedent in Monsieur
Mouquin's restaurant. Thus, I aroused
only passive curiosity.
From the corner of my, eye I ob
served the old gentleman opposite.
Ho was peering over the top of his
paper, and 1 could sec by the glitter in
his eye that he was a confirmed player
of solitaire. The girl, however, still
appeared to be in a dreaming state.
I have no doubt every one who saw
me thought that anarchy wa3 abroad
again, or that Sherlock Holmes had
entered into his third incarnation.
Finally 1 squared the took a
long breath, and cut. I turned up th?
card. It was the ten-spot of hearts.
I considered this most propitious,
hearts being my long suit in every
thing but love, —love having not yet
crossed my path. I put the card in
my wallet, and was about to toss the
rest of the pack under the table, when
a woman's voice stayed my hand.
"Don't throw them away. Tell my
fortune iirst."
I looked up, not a little surprised.
It was the beautiful younn girl who
had spoken. She was leaning on her
elbows, her chin propped in her palms,
and the 1 : ; M in her gray chatoyant
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1907.
eyes was wholly Innocent and mis
chievous. In Monsieur M-suquin's cel
lar people are rather Bohemian, l.ot
to say friendly; for it is the rendez
vous of artists, literary men and jour
nalists, —a clan that holds formality
in contempt.
"Tell your fortune?" I repeated, par
rot-like.
"Yes."
"Your minor can tell that more ac
curately than I can," i replied with a
frank glance of admiration.
She drew hef shoulders together
and dropped then;. "I spoke to you,
sir, because I believed you wouldn't
say anything so commonplace as that.
When one sees a man soberly shuffling
a pack of cards in a place like this,
one naturally expects originality."
"Well, perhaps you caught me off
my guard,"—humbly. "I am original.
Did you ever before witness this per
formance in a public restaurant?"—
making the c;yds purr.
"I can not a«iy I have," —amused.
"Well, no more have I!"
"Why, then do you do it?"—with re
newed interest.
"Shall I teil your fortune?"
"Not now. I had much rather you
would tell me the meaning of this
play."
1 leaned toward her and whispered
mysteriously: "The truth is, I belong
to a secret society, and I was cutting
the cards to see whether or not I
should blow up the postofflce to-night
or the police station. You mustn't
tell anybody."
"Oh!" She started back from the
table. "You do not look it," she added
suddenly.
"I know it; appearances are so de
coptive," said I sadly.
Then the old man laughed, and the
girl laughed, and I laughed; and I
wasn't quite sure that the grave
waiter did not crack the ghost of a
smile—in relief.
"And what, may I ask, was the fatal
card?" inquired the old man, folding
his paper.
"The ace of spades; we always
choose that gloomy card in secret so
cieties. There is something deadly
and suggestive about it," I answered
morbidly.
"Indeed."
"Yes. Ah, if only you knew the tti
rible life we lead, we who conspire!
Every day brings forth some galling
disappointment. We push a king off
into the dark, and another rises im
mediately in his place. Futility, futil
ity everywhere! if only there were
some way of dynamiting habit and
custom! I am a Russian; ail my
family are perishing in Siberian
mines," —dismally.
"Fudge!" said the girl.
"Tommy-rot!" said the amiable old
gentleman.
"Uncle, his hair is too short for un
anarchist."
"And his collar too immaculate."
(So the old gentleman was this charm,
ing creature's uncle!)
"We are obliged to disguise our
selves at times," I explained. "Tha
police are always meddling. It is dis
couraging."
"You have some purpose, humorous
or serious," said the girl shrewdly.
"A man does not bring a pack of
cards —"
"I didn't bring them; I sent out for
them."
" —bring a pack of cards here simply
to attract attention," she continued
tranquilly.
"Perhaps I am a prestidigitator in
a popular dime museum," I suggested,
willing to help her out, "and am doing
a little advertising."
"Now, t4iat has u plausible sound,'
she admitted, folding her hands undor
her chin. "It must be an interesting
life. Presto —change! and all that."
"Oh, 1 find it rather monotonous In
the winter; but in the summer it ii
fine. Then I wander about the sues
mer resorts and give exhibitions.''
Xc uti Coptic u«d.
SHONTSOIIT.
Resigns as Chairman of
Canal Commission.
GETS BETTER JOB.
He Has Been Elected President of
thelnterborough Co., Gotham's
Street Railway Combine.
Washington, D. C. —The resigna
tion of Theodore P. Shonts, as chair
man of the isthmian canal commis
sion, was announced at the White
House Wednesday, having been ten
i dered to the president and accepted
: by him Tuesday, according to corres
j pondence made public. It will take
i effect not later than March 4, Mr.
; Shonts having been elected president
j of the Interborough-Metropolitan com
; pany, which controls the rapid transit
and many surface lines in New York,
j No announcement was made as to
who will succeed Mr. Shonts as chair
man of the commission, but it was
learned authoritatively that headquar
ters will be removed from Washing
ton to the isthmus and that a high
salaried chairman to serve in that ca
pacity alone will not be named. This
being admitted, it follows that John F.
Stevens, the engineer in charge of
the construction of the canal, would
not be made subordinate to another
official on the isthmus. Without defi
nite announcement, therefore, it is re
garded as a certainty that Mr.
Stevens will be named as chairman
'of tlie commission and will assume
duties as such in connection with his
post as chief engineer.
Mr. Shonts' retirement does not
come wholly as a surprise. It has
been rumored that as soon as action
had been taken upon the proposition
to build the canal by contract, that Mr.
Shonts would sever his connection
and resume a calling more congenial
to his taste. Secretary Taft confirm
ed that rumor by saying that Mr.
Shonts' resignation was voluntary.
THAW'S TRIAL BEGINS.
Two Jurors Are Secured During the
First Day's Session.
New York. The curtain was
rung up Wednesday for another
act In the tragedy of real life known
as the Thaw-White case. The setting
was not the gay all-night restaurants
of the Tenderloin, where the principal
actors in the tragedy once were fa
miliar figures. It was not the roof
garden crowded with summer revelers
who on a fateful night clinked glasses
in rhythm to the music of the orches
tra and listened laughingly to merry
singers, and then were hushed into a
silence of horror as three pistol shots
cracked and a noted architect lay
dead at the table where he had been
chatting with friends.
The story of the play was brought
down to the grim court room scene
where 12 men are to sit and render a
judgment which may mean either the
taking of another life, this time by
the state, or a determination that
Harry K. Thaw was justified in the
claim that he had shot the man who
had "ruined his wife." There may be
a third decision, that Thaw was in
sane at the time he committed the
crime—"emotional insanity," it is
called—but there will be no opportun
ity to say that. Thaw is now insane.
The trial began shortly before 10:30
o'clock and when an adjournment for
the day had been taken about 5 p. m..
there were two jurors in the box. A
third juror had been accepted and
sworn, but he was excused in the
closing moments of the day's session.
TWENTY WINERS KILLED.
A Terribly Fatal Explosion in a Mine
Near Primero, Col.
Trinidad, Col. Twenty miners,
according to the most au
thoritative information available, lost
their lives as a result of an explosion
which occurred early Wednesday in
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co.'s mine
near Primero, 20 miles west of this
city.
Two of the dead are Frank Hobart,
miner, and R. J. Lumley, fire boss.
The names of the other men killed
have not been learned, as the shift
boss who checked up the men who
went into the mine Tuesday night is
missing. All the men except Lumley
were foreigners, most of them being
Italians. The explosion stopped the
air fan, which was not repaired until
late Wednesday and there is little
chance that any of the men in the
mine at the time of the explosion ar#
still alive.
Congress.
Washington.—On the 23d the sen
ate passed the bill increasing the sal
aries of congressmen to $7,500 a year.
Senator Heveridge began a long
speech on the evils of child labor. The
house began consideration of the pen
sion appropriation bill.
Will Build Six Tunnels.
Welch, W. Va.—The Norfolk &
Western Railroad Co. has let
contracts for six tunnels at a cost of
$3,000,000. Th 'i tunnels, which are to
be double tracked, will shorten the
distance on the West Virginia division
15 miles. The six tunnels will aggre
gate 0,100 feet, in length.
The River and Harbor Bill.
Washington, D. C.—The river and
harbor hill which will be reported to
the house to-day by the committee on
rivers and harbors will carry an ap
uroprlatlon p;jsrog->t!ng $83,406,138.
j Balcom & Lloyd, ft
11
WE have the best stocked j!
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and if you are looking for re
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Our reputation for trust- 01
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II THESE PRICES AND FACTS AT
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14 Dining Chairs, I »°» S4I - E °* i N
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fcj High Chairs. e«ie Agent for Cameron County. I fc J
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UKTDER.TAK.I3VO. iM
3