Croupier

“ Perfide Alb——" the Gaul shouted; but ere he could rise from his seat to give the alarm to the Toulon garrison, as he had fully intended doing, a hundred swords (made in Birmingham) had passed simultaneously through his body. Their stakes fell from the trembling hands of the players.
"Then are we to understand," asked another Frenchman, who had somewhat recovered from the first shock of surprise, "that the English Government has suppressed Sablettes-les-Bains because it disapproves of the game of Petits-Chevaux?"
"Not at all," replied the Croupier-Officer. ”

“ The players bet on the numbers, setting their stakes on the side of the square which bears the number selected. When all have staked, the bowl is removed, and the banker or croupier with a small stick removes coins from the heap, four at a time, till the final batch is reached. ”

“ The first thing that Croquart noticed was the gold and gules upon Tinteniac’s shield; the second, Tiphaïne’s figure with its gray cloak lined with crimson silk, and the glitter of her hair under the boughs of the trees. Now Croquart was one of those insufferable creatures whose vanity takes fire at the first flash of a woman’s gown. Ugly and illiterate rascal that he was, he had conceived a fashionable fury for the French romances, and had even taken to modelling his behavior upon that of their aristocratic heroes. A renegade is always doubly bitter against the party he has deserted ”

“ Croquart growled a fearful curse, and gripped his sword-hilt as if about to kill them both. Then his mood suddenly changed, and he gave a hoarse laugh.
“Since my guests are so long in coming, it is meet they be well received when they do. May I never take plunder more if I bind not to a tree the first man who passes, and shoot as many arrows into him as there be quills on a hedge-hog!” ”

“ The tanned war-dog looked restless, as though Croquart’s raillery was too cunning to be pleasant.
“We are your men, captain.”
“Good fellows! good fellows! You love me about as well as a whore loves a gentleman with a pocketful of gold. I shall take care, sirs, not to sleep till we unsaddle in the west. Five hundred gold pieces are easily earned by a stab in the dark, Tête Bois, eh? And, then, I am such a gay devil—my rings are worth a duke’s ransom,” and he glanced at his huge hands and then at the faces of his men. ”

“ He always sits upon the charger, a field-glass in his hand and waiting aides upon every side, or flourishes a sword as he plunges into the thick of the battle smoke.
But Crook was not dashing, only quiet and steady, and sure as death. Upon parade and occasions of ceremony he wore the gold lace and the stars. To do his life's work he put on an old flannel shirt, tied a kerchief around his neck, and set a pith helmet over those farseeing, keen little eyes. He might have been a [Pg 228] prospector, or a cow-boy, for all the outward seeming of it. ”

“ I am ill myself.
'Twas a sore trial, ye have heard of it—
The man must die—
Eliz. No! father, as you hope For mercy, no!
Crom. Peace, simpleton. It was The voice of all this people.
Arth. General, hear me: Thou hadst the power to save—
Crom. Ay! Master Walton, Thou thinkest so?—
Arth. I do!—
Crom. And dar'st to speak it?
Arth. Dare! General Cromwell! [Takes off his sword.] Here, look, is my sword, I'll never more bear arms with thee or thine.
Crom. I do protest thou wilt not—
Take his sword; [To an Officer.] ”

“ In March 1644 Major-general Crawford cashiered a lieutenant-colonel on the ground that he was an anabaptist. ‘Admit he be,’ wrote Cromwell, ‘shall that render him incapable to serve the public ? Sir, the state in choosing men to serve it takes no notice of their opinions; if they be willing faithfully to serve it, that satisfies’ (Carlyle, Letter xx.) Manchester’s army was split into two factions—the presbyterians headed by Crawford, the independents headed by Cromwell, struggling with each other for the guidance of their commander. ”

“ Refuse, and thou diest!”
“I refuse,” said the old man, without a moment’s hesitation.
A quick gasp of terrified amazement hissed through the tomb-like silence, while Croquart stood for an instant literally dumb with fury.
“Ho, fellows!” he roared at last, “bind him to the nearest tree, and choose out your sharpest arrows!”
But, for the first time, his savage followers, instead of obeying, hung back with an audible murmur, and one or two slunk away outright.
“Cowards!” yelled the furious bandit. “Do ye call yourselves men, and let the prate of an old dotard scare ye all? ”

“ Cropoli the younger, like a man of good heart, supported the loss with resignation, and the gain without insolence. He began by accustoming the public to sound the final i of his name so little, that by the aid of general complaisance, he was soon called nothing but M. Cropole, which is quite a French name. He then married, having had in his eye a little French girl, from whose parents he extorted a reasonable dowry by showing them what there was beneath the slab of the chimney. ”

“ THUMB
PAGE
JOHN S. CROW.
All alone in the field
Stands John S. Crow;
And a curious sight is he,
With his head of tow,
And a hat pulled low
On a face that you never see.
KIN-FOLKS OF JOHN S. CROW. His clothes are ragged
And horrid and old,
The worst that ever were worn;
They’re covered with mold,
And in each fold
A terrible rent is torn.
They once were new
And spick and span,
As nice as clothes could be;
For though John hardly can
Be called a man,
They were made for men you see. ”

“ Cromwell, surrounded by his court, appears on the threshold of the great door.—A quiver of excitement runs through the crowd. The whole assemblage rises and stands uncovered, in a respectful attitude.—The Protector is in black velvet, without cloak or sword. His retinue forms a gleaming half-circle of gold and steel a short distance behind him. Nearest the Protector, in front, is the Lord Mayor, with uplifted sword; behind him is Lord Carlisle, also with uplifted sword. ”

“ No living thing was to be seen, and Croquart, not having robbed or murdered any one for three whole days, found time hang heavy on his unwashed hands.
“Where loiter these dog scouts of mine?” growled the ruffian, glaring round with his bloodshot eyes in quest of the two swift riders whom he had sent forth to watch for any sign of prey. “If they bring not word of some game afoot, it shall go ill with them! Swords and halberds! a man may as well be a stone or a stock as sit here doing nought till his sinews wax rusty through idleness!” ”

“ The Jackal watched his chance, and as soon as he had found the Stag alone, he began to say, sidling up to the Stag, and whispering in his ear—
"Beware of that Crow; he's fooling thee. Beware, beware all birds of the air. There's no trusting any [167] bird, let alone a Crow, who is worst of the whole feathered tribe. Now you and I, who never try in the air to fly, good honest gentlemen with four legs apiece, we are marked out for friends by Nature herself." ”

“ Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:
By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by 't?
Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee:
Corruption wins not more than honesty.
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace,
To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell!
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. ”

“ Croker sailed Englandward to repose himself from his labors. For ten months did he rest, recuperate, restrengthen and restore himself. And when he departed, albeit he may have had no suspicion of that fact, Mr. Croker left his chieftaincy behind. That was to happen in the nature of things, and Mr. Croker would have foreseen it had he been a true scientist of supremacy. Remember it, all ye kings and princes and potentates among men! a crown will never travel, a scepter cannot leave the realm, and there are no wheels on a throne. ”

“ His Office is to make Men wise, and to instruct them in divers things; also to Transmute all Metals into Gold; and to change Wine into Water, and Water into Wine. He governeth 33 Legions of Spirits, and his Seal is this, etc.
(49.) Crocell.—The Forty-ninth Spirit is Crocell, or Crokel. He appeareth in the Form of an Angel. He is a Duke Great and Strong, speaking something Mystically of Hidden Things. He teacheth the Art of Geometry and the Liberal Sciences. He, at the Command of the Exorcist, will produce Great Noises like the Rushings of many Waters, although there be none. ”

“ Broghill.⁠Cromwell is very shrewd! you stake your head.
Ormond.⁠For whom to-morrow'll be a festal day,
God alone knows. Our plot's success is sure.
This morning Rochester will hither bring
Sedley and Jenkins, Clifford, Davenant
The poet, who the King's secret commands
Doth bear to us. To the same rendezvous
Sir Richard Willis, Harrison and Carr
Will come.
Broghill.⁠But they're in prison; they are foes
Whom Cromwell holds in durance in the Tower. ”

“ Wildman [in an undertone.] ⁠ O lightning, strike!
[Cromwell, in the purple robe, the train of which is borne by young Lord Roberts, richly dressed, walks gravely toward the throne. Lord Warwick precedes him, with sword uplifted. Lord Carlisle follows, the point of his sword toward the ground.
Syndercomb [aside.] ⁠A brilliant retinue borrowed from hell!
Purple and ermine, gilded noblemen,
And soldiers clad in steel; a throne beplumed,
Surmounted by a towering canopy,
Immodest women, men devoid of shame,
Pomp, power, triumph—nothing doth he lack. ”

“ The brazen rod to th' iron sceptre.
Cromwell. The brazen rod to th' iron sceptre. Ah!
And Cromwell to the second Charles—not so?
Carr. Such is their dream. But 'tis not Jacob's will
That they shall slay an ox with his own sword
And he have not his share; that Cromwell be
Struck down, and Stuart gain his end thereby.
Between two evils one must shun the worse. ”

“ But if thou wilt do it, work thy will. I fear thee not. Thou canst but kill the body, and God will give me strength to die.”
Croquart stamped till the earth flew up in showers from beneath his armed heel. Like other such monsters, he loved cruelty for its own sake, and enjoyed as a luxury the agony of his victims at the prospect of torture and death; but when, as now, he had to do with a man who had no fear of death, and seemed rather eager to be tortured than otherwise, the sport lost all its savour. ”

“ But it was on the leaders of the rising that Cromwell's hand fell heaviest. He seized his opportunity for dealing at the northern nobles a fatal blow. "Cromwell," one of the chief among them broke fiercely out as he stood at the Council board, "it is thou that art the very special and chief cause of all this rebellion and wickedness, and dost daily travail to bring us to our ends and strike off our heads. I trust that ere thou die, though thou wouldst procure all the noblest heads within the realm to be stricken off, yet there shall one head remain that shall strike off thy head." ”

“ It was not dark, it was not even dusk, when Helen, having fought her way through the laurustinus and syringa of the pleasure-grounds, mounted the hill which lay between Crowmore and Ballyredmond. Here she paused on the summit, and looked back. What a change even two days can make in one's whole existence! Two evenings previously she had been picking mushrooms on this very hill in her ordinary, tranquil frame of mind; now, glancing down on the old Castle, Crowmore was to have a new master, and she must leave its shelter! ”

“ Croquart stood in the stirrups and scanned the moorland under his hand. Hard galloping alone had saved him from the glitter of Dubois’s spears, and, as for his own mercenaries, he had left the fellows to look after their own souls. Three solitary riders were forcing their jaded horses up the slope towards him, the last and best mounted of his free lances, who had been able to keep sight of the black stern of Croquart’s horse.
Though still young, the Fleming had the coarse and florid features of a man whose appetites had been pampered by success. ”

“ How much do they know?"
"They know everything," was the startling rejoinder. "Never withhold secrets from your men of business; and besides, in my case, they are necessary to manage my affairs, remit money, receive letters, and keep me in touch with England."
"Yes, I can see that, they did not give me much of a welcome—a pair of sun-dried old scorpions!"
"Don't be hard on them, Geoffrey. ”

“ By a string of wampum I spoke these words, “Brethren, consider the messengers are come home with good news, and three of your brethren, the English, with them. We desire you would pity your own young men, women and children, and use no hardships towards the captives, as having been guiding our party.”
Afterwards the warriors informed us, that their design had not been to go to war, but that they had a mind to go to the general and speak with him; and on the road the French made a division among them, that they could not agree ”

“ Crow as he spoke, most of the company could not help thinking that the old gentleman was the thief, after all. And when he flew into a rage they felt quite sure he was guilty.
"We always knew Mr. Crow was an old rascal!" they exclaimed.
And so Mr. Crow took himself off. But he soon recovered his good spirits. He was used to being called names. And to tell the truth, he had taken a few eggs now and then—when he thought no one was watching. ”