unate "bucket" was cleared out not only of
his gains, but of his original investment, which may be placed roughly
at twenty thousand dollars. This extraordinary play was witnessed by a
crowd of excited players, who were less impressed by even the magnitude
of the stakes than the perfect _sang froid_ and recklessness of the
player, who, it is said, at the close of the game tossed a
twenty-dollar gold-piece to the banker and smilingly withdrew. The man
was not recognized by any of the habitues of the place.'

"There!" said Uncle Jim, as he hurriedly slurred over the French
substantive at the close, "did ye ever see such God-forsaken
foolishness?"

Uncle Billy lifted his abstracted eyes from the current, still pouring
its unreturning gold into the sulking sun, and said, with a deprecatory
smile, "Never!"

Nor even in the days of prosperity that visited the Great Wheat Ranch
of "Fall and Foster" did he ever tell his secret to his partner.

THE NOTARY OF PERIGUEUX

By H. W. LONGFELLOW

Do not trust thy body with a physician. He'll make thy foolish bones
go without flesh in a fortnight, and thy soul walk without a body in a
se'nnight after.--_Shirley_.

You must know, gentlemen, that there lived some years ago, in the city
of Perigueux, an honest notary public, the descendant of a very ancient
and broken-down family, and the occupant of one of those old
weather-beaten tenements which remind you of the times of your
great-grandfather. He was a man of an unoffending, quiet disposition;
the father of a family, though not the head of it--for in that family
"the hen overcrowed the cock," and the neighbors, when they spake of
the notary, shrugged their shoulders, and exclaimed, "Poor fellow! his
spurs want sharpening." In fine--you understand me, gentlemen--he was
hen-pecked.

Well, finding no peace at home, he sought it elsewhere, as was very
natural for him to do; and at length discovered a place of rest far
beyond the cares and clamors of domestic life. This was a little _cafe
estaminet_ a short way out of the city, whither he repaired every
evening to smoke his pipe, drink sugar-water, and play his favorite
game of domino. There he met the boon companions he most loved; heard
all the floating chit-chat of the day; laughed when he was in a merry
mood; found consolation when he was sad; and at all times gave vent to
his opinions without fear of being snubbed short by a flat
contradiction.

Now, the not