Harold MacGrath

“ Smeed aroused the latent gambler's blood in my veins, and I began to play.
"Never play a system," said Smeed one night, after having won something like ten thousand francs. "Systems make gambling a vice. Take your chance on any old number, if it's roulette. If you are lucky you will win, no matter where you play. Systems and suicides were born of the same mother." ”

“ She balanced her lorgnette and stared, first at the slipper, then at me.
"Young man, don't be silly. Do I look like a woman who could wear a little thing like that? Run along with you, and don't make fun of poor old women. If there is any Cinderella around here I'm only her godmother."
For a moment I stood abashed. Here was one who had outlived vanity, or at least had discovered its worthlessness.
"Have you no vanity, madam?" I asked solemnly.
"If I have it has ceased to protrude. Go and give the slipper to a footman, and don't keep some girl hopping around on one foot." ”

“ If they called me before the curtain my cup was full; there was nothing left in the world but to make money, all other thrills having come and departed. All at once I determined to run up town to the theater and steal in to see the last act. So I called for my hat and coat, apologized to my friend, and went forth into the night—and romance!
[Pg 6]
Gramercy Park is always still at night, quiet even in the very heart of turmoil. Only an indefinable murmur drifted over from the crowded life of Broadway. ”

“ Williard, the Republican nominee, was a handsome chap, liberal-minded and generous-hearted, without a personal enemy in the world. I recollect only one fault: he loved the world a little too well. The opposition organs, during the heat of the campaign, dropped vague hints regarding dinners to singers and actresses and large stakes in poker games. Carrington, his opponent, was not handsome, but he had a fine clean-cut, manly face, an intrepid eye, a resolute mouth, and a tremendous ambition. ”

“ There is some chance at faro, if the game is square. But roulette; bah! It is plain robbery."
"The blind Madonna of the Pagan, as Stevenson called chance," mused the colonel, lighting a cigar. "I often wonder if gambling is not as much a particle of our blood as salt. Perhaps you have all wondered why I never have kept a racing-stable, why I play bridge and poker for fun. ”

“ Mystery arouses a woman's curiosity, and I frankly confess that I wish to arouse yours. You are nearly, if not quite, twenty-four."
"One does not win a woman's interest by telling her her age."
"But I add that you do not look it."
"That is better. Now, let me see the slipper," holding out her hand.
"To no one but Cinderella. I'd be a nice prince, wouldn't I, to surrender the slipper without finding Cinderella!"
"In these days no woman would permit you to put on her slipper, unless you were her husband or her brother." ”

“ To-night, what would you have done in my place?"
"Hailed a gentleman exactly like myself."
[Pg 34]
She dallied with a rose, brushing it across her lips. "I do not know why I desire your good opinion. Perhaps it's the novelty of sitting beside a man who does not believe in flattery."
"Flattery is a truth that is not true. I think you are charming, beautiful, engaging, enchanting, mystifying. I can think of no other adjectives."
"If flattery is a truth that is not true, then all your pretty adjectives mean nothing." ”

“ The influence of woman in politics is no inconsiderable matter. The great statesman may flatter himself that his greatness is due to his oratorical powers; but his destiny is often decided at the breakfast-table. Why four-fifths of the women lean toward Republicanism is something no mere historian can analyze.
In my town politics had an evil odor. For six years a Democrat had been mayor, and for six years the town had been plundered. ”

“ A little beyond my table was an exiled Frenchman, and the irritating odor of absinthe drifted at times across my nostrils.
With my coffee I ordered a glass of Dantzic, and watched the flakes of beaten gold waver and settle; and presently I devoted myself entirely to my own particularly miserable thoughts.... To be in love and in debt! To be with the gods one moment and hunted by a bill-collector the next! To have the girl [Pg 163] you love snub and dismiss you for no more lucid reason than that you did not attend the dance at the Country Club when you promised you would! ”

“ Art and literature stand pale beside it. But a worm gnawed at the heart of this rose, a cancer ate into the laurel. Carrington turned. He was by no means guileless.
"When I accepted this nomination, I did so because I believed that the party was in danger, and that, if elected, I might benefit the people. I have remained silent; I have spoken but little of my plans; I have made few promises. Mr. McDermott, I am determined, first and foremost, to be mayor in all the meaning of the word. I refuse to be a figure-head. I have crossed out Murphy's name because he is a dishonest citizen. ”

“ Toddy-One-Boy crawled under the bed that night, and only his mother's tears saved him from a hiding.
All these things I thought over as I sat at my table. She knew that I would have gone had it been possible. Women and logic are only cousins german. ”

“ I stood alone. It rather hurt to think one girl should remember me and that the other should absolutely forget. But supper brought me out of my cogitations. So once again I put away the slipper and looked at my supper-card. I was destined to sit at table four. I followed the pilgrims out to worship at the shrine of Lucullus.
Evidently there was no Cinderella; or, true to her condition in life, she was at this moment seated before her ash-heap, surrounded by strutting and cooing doves. Well, well, I could put the slipper on the mantel at home ”

“ It has always appealed to me as rather a silly custom on a story-teller's part to invent names for the two great political parties of the United States; and for my part, I am going to call a Democrat a Democrat and a [Pg 118] Republican a Republican, because these titles are not so hallowed in our time as to be disguised in print and uttered in a bated breath. There is no lèse-majesté in America.
Men inclined toward the evil side of power will be found in all parties, and always have been. Unlike society, the middle class in politics usually contains all the evil elements. ”

“ When a man gambles he wants to do it thoroughly. Heads, I was to go; tails, I was to remain and buck the tiger. Heads it fell; and I packed my trunk. No more of the blind Madonna for me, I vowed. I had had enough, perhaps more than enough. But one does not lose the habit overnight.
On the way from Dieppe to Paris a veiled woman entered my carriage, which was third, nothing else being obtainable. Rather, she entered immediately after I did. She was accompanied by a young man of twenty-one or two. His face was good to look at, but at present it was marred by sullen chagrin and despair. ”

“ My honesty is my bread and butter ... and my conscience."
"Corporations have no souls; politics has no conscience. Williard...."
"My name is Carrington,"—abruptly. "In a matter of this kind I can not permit myself to be subjected to comparisons. You brought about my present position in municipal affairs."
"We had need of you, and still need you," confessed the other reluctantly. "The party needs new blood."
"You are a clever man, Mr. McDermott; you are a leader; let me appeal to your better judgment. Murphy is a blackguard, and he would be in any party, in any country. ”

“ I wiped the perspiration from my brow and wondered what I should say to her. A woman.... By Jove! the sister of the mischievous boy! Old Chittenden must have told her where he had gone, and as he hasn't shown up, she's worried. It must be a tremendously important letter to cause all this hubbub. So I laid aside my hat and waited, tugging and gnawing at my mustache.... Had the Girl acted reasonably I shouldn't have gone to Martin's that night.
How easy it is for a woman to hurt the man she knows is in love with her! And the Girl had hurt me more than I was willing to confess even to myself. ”

“ The footman at the door touched his hat. I gazed over my shoulder to see if any one had come out of the club at the same time as myself. I was alone.
"Hurry! I have waited at least half an hour. We haven't a moment to waste."
Some one in the upper rooms of the club lifted a shade to open a window, and the light illuminated her features. She was young and very handsome. A French wit once said that [Pg 7] the whisper of a beautiful woman can be heard farther than the loudest call of duty. ”

“ Now, where in the world was Cinderella?
II
I thrust the slipper into the tail of my coat, and strolled over to the marble bench which partly encircled the fountain. The tinkle of the falling water made a pleasant sound. Ten years! I had been away ten years. How quickly youth vanishes down the glimmering track of time! Here I was at thirty, rather old, too, for that number; and here was that pretty girl of fourteen grown into womanhood, a womanhood that would have stirred [Pg 101] the pulses of many a man less susceptible than myself. ”

“ On January first I gave a leap-year party, and in the spirit of fun each lady present declared her intention of bringing to a series of late dinners a gentleman whom none of us knew, either by sight or by reputation. He was to be lured into a [Pg 26] carriage by some story or other, and was not to know the true state of things till he sat at the table. My niece was the last on the list. Those who backed down were to give a house-party of a week's length. Women detest house-parties, and that is the one reason why this comedy has gone down the line without a failure. ”

“ It is maddening and unhealthy to be rich and idle. The rich and idle do such impossible things in the wild effort to pass away the dragging hours. Society is not made up of fools: rather knaves and madmen. Money and idleness result in a mild attack of insanity. ”

“ No one likes to be completely forgotten, save the absconding bank-clerk and the defeated candidate. I had made no effort to recall myself to those I met. My hostess thoughtlessly supposed that I should take upon myself the labor of renewing acquaintance; but I found this rather impossible. Everything was changed, the people and the city; the one had added to its height and the other to its girth. So I simply wandered about the familiar rooms summoning up the pleasant ghosts of bygone days. Then came the slipper episode—and Nancy! ”

“ Betty, I've been licked, haven't I, and old Dick has gone and done it, eh?"
The girl choked for a moment; there was a sob in her throat.
"Yes, John."
Carrington reached over and tapped the hearth with his riding-crop, absent-mindedly. The girl gazed at him, her eyes shining in a mist of unshed tears.... She longed [Pg 157] to reach out her hand and smooth the furrows from his care-worn brow, to brush the melting crystals of snow from his hair; longed to soothe the smart of defeat which she knew was burning his heart. She knew that only strong men suffer in silence. ”

“ On the Republican side they nominated a rich young club-man. Now, as you will readily agree, it is always written large on the political banner that a man who is rich has no incentive to become a grafter. The public is ever willing to trust its funds to a millionaire. The Democrats, with equal cunning, brought forward a brilliant young attorney, whose income was rather moderate but whose ability and promise were great. The Democratic organs hailed his nomination with delight. ”

“ The rockets soared again; and the agony written on the girl's face excited something stronger than pity. I fumbled in a pocket and drew forth a card.
"My name is Chadwick; permit me—" Then I laughed insanely, even hysterically. "I beg your pardon! I was about to offer you material assistance. I haven't a penny in the world, and nothing of value save a pair of cuff-buttons. ”

“ Upon the cushions I saw a dark-haired girl in red. Now, when they haven't a dash of red in their hair I like it in their dress. She was pretty, besides; so I stopped.
"Pardon me, but won't you tell me if you are Cinderella?"—producing the slipper.
"I am,"—with an amused smile.
"Then there is a Cinderella, after all?" I cried joyfully. "Where are the pumpkins?" glancing about.
[Pg 108]
"I believe that several of them have gone hunting for the slipper."
I was delighted. Three witty women all in one night, and two of them charming. It was more than a man had any right to expect. ”