LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2053, 22 September 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

THB POINT OF HONGUB r A. GAMBLING TEAGEDY. {["Abridged from “Trat 1 was dining at a table d 4 rote in the on y country of Europe where a Btee8 tee it dinner is still ti bs got ut -uou piacre, when my attention was attracted 1 y a tall, reserved man, in the uniform <f a cavalry officer, who sat at the head of a side tible. Beside me was a Q icon's mes enger, < leptain Bolton, who. of c .U'fie. knew everything and everybody, from the gossip of the legations which he visited in a professions! capacity ; so I asked him who the grava-looking soldier might he His reply was a startler. * That is FieldMarshal Eisenherg,’ answered the Q ieen'a messenger, coolly, naming one of the first aoldo ; s of our age; *he always dines hers, and has done so ever since I have been In the line.’

4 Odd pUce to pick up a field-marshal, at a dinner ip a pub-io house, isn’t it, at least in these piping times of peace?’ ‘Pa!’ exclaimed Ca„ta 5 n BoPon, who, like several of the distinguished corps to which be belongs, is au agree&b’a rattle ; ‘ ha. thereby hangs a tale—don’t you know it ?’

I had just returned—for I, t-io, am *in the line ’ —from Barataria, whither 1 hid been seat by a grateful country for not belonging to one cf the governing families thoa in power, .o I replied, somewhat to Bolton's ast nishraent, that ‘ I did not know it.’

‘ Well, then,’ remarked the captain, gai'y, ‘ I wdl tell it yiu when I have done with this pheasant and melon salat, which is too good to sp- il for an anecdote.’

_ By and by, when the coffee came, he lit & cigar which had been sent him by litt'e Jinks, our vi.-e-consul at the Havanna, and aa the first wreaths of perfumed smoke curled round about him, tie thus delivered himself:— ‘ The marrhal used to have a son, 4 As he spoke, the gaunt upright figure of the famous military commander strode by. He tumid hia higgard face towards us aa he did so, but. there wir no epe. u'atim in his eyes, and the life that was in h*m seemed to serve only to carry a heart that was dead. His appearance had served but to emphasise Captain Belton’s statement, that ‘he used to have a son.’

The Qua n’a messenger, wha had been interrupted by thn Eo’ema apparition above mentioned, went on with hia'.-tory. * Yes. as I was saying, Count Kiainbefj’ htd a son. who was < ne of rii • finest-. y., n ng men in the army. He was in a light cavalry regiment, and afl the girJa \veut mad about hm. You never saw a follow batter built, or with more downright pluck and go in him. Kang it, sir, he deserved to be an Englishman, and I used to tell him so when I passed through here, and could get a day’s shooting with him at tdeUheim—a grand place hia governor had then. It is sold now. Never was a more cheery or better companion than Ru iy Kisenberg. Ha could • ide as well as Lord Cork, and short snap shots «ith any one yon like to name. It wasn’t all glitter either about him. He had hem out in a big war, and done all sorts of fine things. His nerves were said to hr wonderfully steady under fire, and he had lidden writ to the front in one of the b l'ert hasd-to-hind fights on record. No: a chap iu hia regiment, from the co’onel to the pip rr, haa a word to say against him. ‘ Unluckily, ’ mused Captain Bolton, ‘ thatwas just it. People liked him too much, especially ladies. Thera was a i«per that an illustrious beauty not far off from the reigning dynasty, had fretted hfrstlf nearly ctazy about him ; an 1 though even the Conit officials agreed that he hid behaved very well in a mysterious business that It would not do to talk about, Rudy Eisenberg went to parade with a free white as a ghost after a masked ball, where it was thought some scandal had taken place. I would adviar you never to touch on this part of the story if you rman to m.-ke any stay here* 1 One thing only oozed out, and this was that the love, if there was love, bal been mutual; and I have heard that Rudy gjt a Utils . wong In the heal after it was all over. The clocto-’a spoke of brain fever, and recommended change of air ; so the old matshal, who knew no’hing about money, gave his son about e-iough t-> keep him for a week, and sent h-m off to Honobnrg for tbs waters. The devil’s own play was going ob at that picturesque little hole iu those days, and young Eia-nberg natnrri’y found himself tumble headlong into the set who lived where it was hottest. There was Bob Cheyke of the Life Guards, and Agincourt, who had jnst coma into his title | with Ivry de Yidesao, the crack Frenchman, who went such a tremendous ema-h two years later ; and Crichton, and M .uleverer, with Ja k Nortiman. Birbantaki Pa-hi, old Lord Ohowser, and I do not know how many more of the same lot- I fancy Rudy Kisenberg did not know what to make of them at first. Their ways were not his ways ; but he soon fell into them. As mischance would have it, too, he spoke a little EnglLh, and that helped, I dare say, for ho had got many of the stolid, honest ideas of his countrymen about improving himself, a-d very likely thought at times that he might soma dsy have to act his part in a Ba tie of Dorkin ; so that it might be as well t > prepare for the emergencies that would probably arise oat of such a situation, whether he was among the conquerors or the conquered. For awhile Oheyke and the rest of them used to always rind him in h : s den on the fifth floor of a cheap hotel, poring over books of taotics, and working out military problems with corks and pics, on one of those wonderfully accurate maps issued by his native war office. But they soon badger ed him oat of that, and at la--t ha w.-s for ever with them when they were going fastest He rode a steeplechase on Agincourt’s horse, and won it gallantly for him : but ha also held the bank agaihst Ivry de Vildesae and Lord Chowser for three nights running without going to bed, and he woa nothing, as you may expect, at that game. The Lord knows what happened next It was never made quite clear. Some fellows will have it that Nortiman and Bob Cbeyke, who had won a whole pot of money from him, insisted on having it at once, and it is certain that a cheque, hoar ng the FieldMarshall’s signature, given in payment to Oteyke, was refused by the Biikendorfs, hia bankers. But by the first express train afterwards the old Count came to Hombnrg himsalf, striked into Bob’s rooms at the best hotel, laid down the mo rey on his toilet table, and then stalked out again without a word. I hardly like to te’l on my own responsibility what followed, but f'howser says that he met the marshal upon the stairs leading to Rady’s roem. and that he could not help hearing what passed between them through the half-open door of young Eissnberg’s apartment. It was very brief. The old soldier sternly confronted bis son. ‘ I have paid the foul gold for whioh you have dishonored us. Now do yonr part.’ And as he ceased speaking, he placed on the table between them a pistol he had brought with him. The young m-.n made no answer, but the next moment there was a ioui report, and the marshal came forth from the p-esenca of hia dead sou with that whit-, ashen face you have jnst seen. He never smiled again. All the set who were mixed up in the affair naturally tried to put the bast face on it. Bob says he had a right to get h s money, and so does Nortitnau ; but Choweer, though he is a hsrdiah old boy, doesn’t like to talk much on the subject, and I believe had to consult hia doctor respecting a ghost, or something of that sort, which he fancied was fo'lr.wing him about, and wanted to catch hold of him whenever ho was alone.’ ‘ Ah,’ I raid, yawtiog ‘very odd, isn’t it ? ’ I did not know what else to say, and I don’t know now, only I was glad that the story was over. Bolton and 1 then passed the rest of the evening in witnessing some capit .1 card tricks, performed by a regular professor of sleight of-hand who was then making a great noise on the continent. As I looked at this amusing artiste, also, I thought that if such very fnnny things can be done with cards by men of experience, It may be possibly as well for inexperienced youth to think twice, or even tbrice, before sitting down to games of skill where cards are concerned.