Chapter 28 Chapter 4 The Final Duel

The various halls of the Workers' Club (commonly known as the playground) have been open since eleven o'clock.There are not many people in the hall yet, but several roulette tables have started to spin. These roulette wheels have been calibrated in advance, and they rotate very smoothly. This is very important, because a slight inclination of the table top will affect the rolling of the balls thrown on the roulette wheel, and it will be quickly discovered and used by gamblers, causing the dealer to suffer. Sixty thousand francs were placed on each of the six roulette tables, with gold coins, silver coins, and banknotes;This is the banker's usual wager, waiting for the arrival of the high gambling.As long as you continue to gamble again and again after the market opens, and the ball does not fall into the space without numbers, the boss will always win.Since gambling is played under such unequal conditions, it is inherently immoral, even silly and absurd.

Each roulette table was surrounded by eight Pieruères, who had already taken their places with rakes in their hands.Next to them are gamblers or onlookers, some sitting and some standing.Inspectors paced up and down the hall, watching over Krupier and the men who bet on the house.Guys are busy too, serving the public and the casino's management.There are no less than 150 such managers. Near noon, a train from Nice brought the regulars to the playground.On this day, there seemed to be more people than usual.The appearance of seventeen consecutive red cards produced an unexpected sensational effect.It seemed to have a new fascination which redoubled all gamblers' pursuit of the casino miracle.

An hour later, the halls were full of people, everyone was talking in low voices, especially the appearance of the unusual seventeen red cards, in spite of the splendor and luxury of the place, and the many glaring multi-edged buildings. There are gas-shaped chandeliers hanging on long ropes, and green lampshades, oil lamps specially for lighting the gaming tables; but the hall is shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.Gamblers gather here, and what they hear is not the sound of conversation, but the rustling of banknotes on the gaming table, the jingling of gold and silver coins.The gambling host kept shouting: "Red, win, or seventeen, black, odd, lose." What a miserable scene.

However, the two men who had lost the most the night before had not yet appeared in the hall.Some gamblers have begun to try their best to chase luck in an attempt to get good luck in their hands.Some at the roulette table, some at the blackjack table.Good luck, bad luck alternately, and the "miracle" of the previous night seemed to disappear. It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon when Sakani and Silas Doronta walked into the playground.The pair aroused public curiosity as they milled around the foyer before entering the gambling hall.People watched them, watched them, wondered if they were wrestling with luck again, they had paid dearly for it, and if they had been accessible, some old hand would have taken the opportunity to sell them a double bet An effective way to double the bet, the banker was in a trance, barely seeing what was going on around him.Sarkani was more calm and calm than before. During the final battle, the two of them were contemplating.

The curious, onlookers stared at them as if they were surgical patients and prisoners.Among them was a foreigner who seemed determined not to leave for a moment. He was a young man in his twenties, with a handsome face and a pointed nose, and he seemed to be a clever man.A pair of keen eyes, hidden behind a pair of pince-nez.He seems to be naturally active, with his hands in his coat pockets and his feet together to prevent him from moving his feet and getting out of position.He was well-dressed, but not as outrageous as some.He didn't want that either, maybe the way he was dressed now made him uncomfortable.

There was no doubt that this young man was Boscade. Outside the hall, in the garden, Matif was waiting for him. What are they doing here?It turned out that Doctor Antekit sent them to this paradise or hell in the Principality of Monaco to perform a special mission. They had disembarked at Montello South the night before in the Antakit Power II. Carpena was escorted ashore after two days of captivity on the Ferrhato, protesting in vain, and he was eventually imprisoned in a bunker on the island.He only knew that he was transferred from one prison to another, but he did not realize that he was no longer a prisoner of the governor, but a prisoner of Antekyte.Where, he didn't know.Will his fate be changed by this turn?he asked himself anxiously.He decided that as long as he could change his situation, he would go all out.

Therefore, when the doctor asked him for the first time, he did not hesitate to answer frankly. "Does he know Saccani and Silas Dronta?" "He didn't know Silas Doronta, but he knew Saccani, but only met a few times." "Since the Zirona bandits have been active in the suburbs of Catania, have Saccani and the Zirona bandits still been in touch?" "Yes. They have made an appointment to meet in Sicily. If Zirona had not died in that unfortunate robbery, Saccani would have gone to Sicily." "Where is Sarkani now?" "In Monte Carlo, unless he's left there recently. He's been in that city for a while, and Silas Dorronta is likely to be with him."

As for the others, Carpena doesn't know.However, what he explained was enough for the doctor to continue the in-depth investigation. Needless to say, Carpena was not aware of the doctor's purpose in helping him escape from Ceuta and then capturing him, or that his interrogators knew all too well about his betrayal of Andrea Ferjato. It didn't even occur to Luigi that he was the son of a fisherman in Rogigno.Prisoners are held here under stricter watch than in Ceuta Prison.He was unable to socialize with anyone, and this continued until he died in the bunker.The present situation is that of the three rebels who caused the bloody rebellion of Trieste to end, one has fallen into the hands of the doctor, and the other two have fled.And Carpena has just revealed where they might be caught.

However, since Silas Dronta knew the doctor, and both Silas Doronta and Saccani knew Pierre, it was only in the most certain circumstances that the doctor and Pierre were fit to appear.Now that they have figured out their whereabouts, the most important thing is not to let them slip away from under their noses, and catch them whenever they have the opportunity.That's why Boscade and Matif were sent to Monaco.Burscade kept an eye on Sarkani and the banker, while Matif responded to Burscard at any time.As soon as the opportunity came, the doctor, Pierre and Luigi rushed to Monaco on the "Ferhato".

Once the two friends got there, the night went into action.They had no trouble finding the hotel where Silas Dronta and Sakani were staying.As Matif walked around the hotel until dark, Boscade watched, and about one o'clock in the afternoon the two accomplices left the hotel.But the bankers seem decadent.He kept silent, but Sakani took the initiative to talk to him.In the morning, Boscade had heard what had happened in the amusement park the night before. Many people had lost, and Silas Dronta and Saccani had lost the most, so he judged their conversation. It must have something to do with the misfortune of the night before.Plus, he's known for some time that these two guys are losing money.So he can at least be sure that their financial resources are almost exhausted, and the time for the doctor to act is approaching.Boscade immediately wrote this information into a telegram, and sent it to the Valletta transit station in Malta early in the morning (the telegram was not signed), so that it could be quickly transmitted to Antekyte through a dedicated line.

When Saccani and Silas Dronta entered the amusement hall, Boscade followed closely. Later, when the two entered the roulette and blackjack rooms, Boscade followed closely. followed closely. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the casino became lively, and the banker and Sarkani walked around the hall first.Then stop at each gaming table for a while, watching other people bet, but not participating. Boscade seemed to be a spectator, walking up and down the hall, but keeping his eyes on them, afraid that they would disappear from his field of vision. In order not to attract the attention of others, Boscade felt that he should take out A few five-franc pieces, risking blackjack and the roulette table, he lost, as expected, but his composure and coolness were admirable.A famous teacher just pointed out to him: "Young man, if you want to win money, you have to lose small bets and win big money. This is the trick!" Four o'clock struck.Saccani and Silas Dronta thought it was time to try their luck.A roulette table, empty, several places.The two sat down facing each other, and gamblers and onlookers gathered around the table as if they were having fun, greedily watching these two guys who were famous for their losses last night, to see how they could get back their money. Naturally, Burscade stood at the forefront of the onlookers, because he was extremely concerned about winning and losing. There are winners and losers in the first hour.In order to win more money, Silas Doronta and Sakani did not jointly wager.They placed considerable bets on the no-complex combination, the complex combination, or several complex combinations that appeared on the roulette wheel.How lucky it is, I don't know yet. But from four o'clock to six o'clock, their fortunes turned.Six thousand francs is the maximum bet each time, and they have hit the full number several times and won all the money. Silas Dronta's hand began to tremble as he reached for the table to place his bets, or seized coins and banknotes under Crupier's little rake. Sakani, however, appeared calm and composed, without any embarrassment on his face.From time to time he looked at his companion for encouragement.Silas Doronta was also lucky at this time, winning money again and again. Boscade was dazzled by the gold coins and banknotes moving to and fro on the gaming table.But he still couldn't forget to keep an eye on them both. "The money is back in their hands, and will they be careful to keep the money and never gamble again," thought Boscade. But he changed his mind, "If Saccani and Silas Dronta are really cautious-of course he doubts it-they will try to leave Monte Carlo and flee to a corner of Europe , he will have to track it down there. Once they have money in their hands, they will never be at the mercy of Antakit like they are now." "Obviously," he thought, "all in all, they'd be better off broke, and I don't believe that fellow Saccani would quit after such good luck." No matter what Boscade thought and hoped, luck still did not abandon these two fellows.In fact, if the banker had not put another twenty thousand francs at stake, they would have lost the banker's money three times. The gamble has caused a stir among the onlookers, and most of them have their hearts set on these two guys.Shouldn't they go back to their old ways?The night before, they had lost a lot of money in that humiliating seventeen red card defeat. At six-thirty, Sakani and Silas Doronta stopped gambling.At this time, they had won more than 20,000 louis in gold.The two stood up and left the gaming table.Silas Doronta seemed a little intoxicated, probably because of the extreme excitement!But the extreme tension made my brain a little tired, and I walked with a limp.His companion remained calm, always on guard against him, fearing that he would run away with the money he had spent so much effort to win, and slip out of his hands. Without saying a word, the two walked through the hall, down the colonnade, and walked straight to the hotel. Boscade followed them at a distance and came out of the playground, where he saw Matif sitting on a bench near one of the gazebos in the garden. Boscade walked over. "Is it time?" Matiff asked, seeming a little anxious. "when?"…… "Out...out..." "Enter? . . . No, my Matiff! . . . not yet! . . . Stay quietly in the background! Have you had your supper?" "Yes, I have, Boscade." "Excellent! I haven't eaten yet! I'm so hungry I don't know where my stomach is! If I have time, I'll eat! . . . You mustn't go away until I come back!" As he spoke, Boscade ran along the slopes of Sarkani and Silas Dronta. Burscade sat down at the table when he was sure the two fellows were having dinner in their room.In half an hour, he ate and drank enough. Then he came out of the dining-room, smoking a fine cigar, and stood in front of the hotel, watching. "Obviously," he said to himself, "I was born to be a sentinel, and I am not." He kept asking himself, "Are these two guys going to the fairground tonight?" It was nearly eight o'clock when Silas Doronta and Saccani appeared at the door of the hotel, and Boscade seemed to have heard and understood the subject of their dispute. On the surface, the bankers appeared to be trying one last time to resist the pestering and ordering of their accomplices.Sakani said in a commanding tone: "Duolongta, this must be done!...I order you to do this!" Saying that, the two of them went up the hillside to the Monte Carlo Garden.Boscade followed at a distance, but could not hear their conversation. Saccani talked in an indisputable tone, and the banker's rebellious attitude gradually softened. "Silas, we'd be fools if we stopped when good luck came!... Are you out of your wits... Why, when bad luck comes, we gamble desperately, and now, Good luck, but we should be obedient and stop gambling?...Why, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, this opportunity to control our destiny, this opportunity to bring us wealth, we have to let it pass us by because of our momentary confusion Slip away! . . . Silas, do you not feel that good fortune has come upon us?" "If there is still luck, maybe..." Silas Dronta murmured. "Impossible, one hundred impossible!" Sakani replied, "Good luck will not express itself, but you can feel that it has penetrated deeply into your bones unconsciously! Today There's a million dollars hanging over us at the casino table at night! . . . Yes, a million dollars, and I won't let that million slip away from me." "Then you bet, Sakani!" "Me!...I bet alone?...Impossible! Let's bet together, Duolong Tower!...Yes!...If there is a choice between the two of us, then I should step aside! ...Luck is personal. It's already yours, obviously! Go, Duolongta, and you'll win! . . . I want you to do it!" In short, Sarkani never wanted Silas to be satisfied with these hundreds of thousands of francs, otherwise he might get rid of his control.Saccani hopes that his peers will either become millionaires again, as they were before, or be reduced to paupers.With money, they can continue to live their previous lives.Bankrupt, Duolongta must follow Sarkani, wherever Sarkani goes, he will go there.Sarkani is not afraid of either situation. Besides, although Silas Dronta tried to resist, the very mention of gambling made his heart itch, and his desire to gamble was ready to move.This again brought him into the pathetic situation of subservience to Saqani.On the one hand, he wants to gamble, but on the other hand, he has a sense of fear of casinos and casinos.Sarkani's words inspired his desire to gamble again.His heart was burning now that he was lucky and winning money.If you stop and don't gamble, it is unforgivable to miss the opportunity! madman!Like all gamblers, the banker takes the past as reality!He doesn't say: I've had good luck, it's true, - he says: I've had good luck - it's not true!However, all people who get rich by luck are not reasoning minds.They have long since forgotten what was said recently by one of the greatest French mathematicians: "Luck is unpredictable, not predictable." Saccani and Silas finally came to the casino again, and Burskard still followed.The two stayed there for a while. "Doronta," said Sakani, "don't hesitate! . . . You've decided to gamble, haven't you?" "Yes! . . . it's decided to put all your eggs in one basket!" replied the banker.As soon as he climbed the steps of the colonnade, he made up his mind. "I didn't ask you to bet on this," Sakani continued. "Now, it's all about your own luck! You don't need me to cheer you up! Yes, you will be lucky! Will you Time to play roulette..." "No! Thirty-forty!" answered Silas Dronta, entering the hall. "You're right. Duolongta! Do what you want! The roulette just now almost made you a fortune! . . . Blackjack will make you an even bigger fortune!" The two walked into the casino and wandered around for a while.Ten minutes later, Burscade saw them sitting down at a blackjack table. Here, you can bet more daringly, the winning or losing will be bigger, and you can win up to 12,000 francs at a time.If you are lucky, you will win every set, or you can win a considerable sum in just a few sets.This is the place frequented by big gamblers as they make or break their fortunes here.Its speed is unimaginable, and even the exchanges in Paris, New York, and London are envious of it! Sitting at the blackjack table, Silas Dronta put all concerns to the back of his mind.Now, he no longer bets "in fear", but more decisively, more precisely, like a criminal who is about to be arrested.Can it be said that he is proficient in this technique and "bets well"?Evidently not, for whatever the gamblers may boast, they are always at the mercy of luck.The banker thus gambled under Sarkani's nose.In this final gamble, whether the banker won huge sums of money, or lost it all, Sarkani always took great interest. For the first hour, Silas Dronta lost and won.Win and lose, win and lose evenly.But later, the bankers won out. Sarkani and he both thought victory was in sight.They gamble more and more vigorously, and they can't wait to make the biggest bet.But the advantage quickly shifted to the banker's side.The banker is calm and calm, not disturbed by the crazy gamblers, and tries his best to safeguard his own best interests with the biggest bets. Silas Doronta lost several games in a row and suffered a terrible blow.The money won in the afternoon gradually "flyed" out again.At this time, the dealer was uncharacteristically showing a ferocious face: his face was purple and his eyes were wide open.Now his hands gripped table edges and chairs, now bundles of banknotes and handfuls of gold coins.He was struggling, terrified, convulsed, like a drowning man!He has reached the edge of the abyss, but no one is going to stop him!No one reached out to give him a hand!Even before he lost it all, as he was being swallowed by the waves of bankruptcy, not even Sakkani tried to pull him out of the corner. At ten o'clock in the evening Silas Dronta took one last risk and made one last big bet.He won the money and later lost it.Standing up from the gaming table, he felt dizzy and wished that all the casinos in the playground would collapse instantly, crushing himself and all the gamblers in the casinos to death.He was penniless--his bank, which had been revived by the millions of francs from Count Sandorf, which had left him his millions, was nothing now. Saccani accompanied Silas Dronta out of the gambling hall like a prison guard, through the foyer, and hurried out of the playground.Then they ran through the small park towards the trail up the hill leading to the small town of Dolby. Boscade followed them closely.On the way, he ran up to Matiff, pulled the sleepy Hercules from the bench, and shouted at him: "Be careful! ... Keep an eye on it, and catch up!" Matiff and he ran towards the mountain path, closely following behind. Sakani and Silas Doronta continued to walk side by side, along the mountain road that turned left and right, and walked slowly among the "gardens" full of olive and orange trees.These zig-zags made it possible for Boscade and Mativ to see them but not hear their conversation. "Go back to the hotel, Duolongta!" Sakani repeated in a commanding tone. "Go back...you have to calm down!..." "No!...we're broke!...let's break up!...I don't want to see you again!...never again..." Sakani replied. "Break up?...Why?...Come with me, Doronta!...Tomorrow we will leave Morocco!...We still have a sum of money, enough to go to Antu. When we get there, we will be done Our business!" "No!...No!...Leave me, Sakani, go your way!" Silas Doronta responded. When Sakani wanted to catch him, he pushed Sakani away and ran over quickly.He ran so fast that even Sarkani had trouble catching up with him.He could no longer control his actions, and subconsciously ran along the narrow path.Almost every step is in danger of falling into the steep rocks beside the road.Only one thought dominated him now, haunting his head: escape from this ghost place that had bankrupted him—Monte Carlo, escape from Saccani, who had induced him to gamble and brought him to such a point, escape anyway!He has no purpose, he doesn't know where he will go, and he doesn't know what his future fate will be, so he wants to escape!Also escape! Sarkani felt that he could no longer control his accomplice, and he was about to slip away from his hands!Let's say the bankers didn't know Saccani's motives in taking advantage of his irretrievable bankruptcy on his last gamble.Sarkani doesn't have to worry about Silas who has been pushed to the edge of the abyss by himself!But now, Silas Dorron Tower will make a final cry before falling into the abyss, and it cannot be let out anyway! At that time, Sakani made up his mind to kill Silas Doronta.There was only one step away, and he took it without hesitation.What had been planned to be done in the desert wilderness of Monaco on the way to Tetouan, could it not be done in the middle of the night in this deserted place? But at this time, some passers-by returning late went up and down the hillside between Monte Carlo and Dolby.A cry from Silas Dronta would surely draw them to rescue.And the murderer hopes to strike when there is no one around, so that he will not be suspected and implicated in the future, so it is necessary to wait.Higher up, on the side of the border between Dolby and Monaco, up to two thousand feet, this steep slope hangs on the slopes of several mountain ridges near the border of the Alpes-Maritimes. The banker pushed down.At that time, who else will rescue the victims?And how was Silas Dronta's body found in the ditch beside the road? However, Saccani made a last-ditch attempt to stop his accomplice and tried to bring him back to Monte Carlo. "Come back, Doronta, come back!" Sakani shouted, grabbing Silas by the arm, "Let's play tomorrow! . . . I have some money here . . . " "No! . . . You go! . . . You go your way!" cried Silas Dronta angrily. If he is strong enough to fight Sarkani, if he is armed.Presumably he would not hesitate to kill the Tripolitanian intermediary to avenge the hatred he had done to himself. Silas Dronta, getting more and more angry, pushed Sakani away with one hand in anger and force; then he ran towards the last bend of the trail.He crossed a few rough stone steps cut into the rock between small terraced gardens, and soon came to a main street in the city of Dolby on the pass. Between Ershan. "Go, Duolongta!" Sakani roared for the last time, "Go, but you can't go very far!" Sakani then ran to the right, jumping over a small pile of stone obstacles, crawling nimbly across a terraced garden, running forward, trying to get to the front of Silas Doron Tower, pushing hold him. Boscade and Matif didn't hear what they were saying, but they saw the banker shove Saccani, and saw Saccani disappear into the shadows. "Ah! there's a ghost in here!" said Boscade, "perhaps the most useful one escapes! . Longta guy!...Besides, we have no choice!...Catch up, Matiff, catch up!" The two took big strides and quickly caught up, approaching Silas Doron Tower. Silas Dronta quickly walked up the streets of Duby City, leaving the hill overlooking the Augustus Tower behind on the left, and ran past the closed house to reach the steep ramp. Boscade and Matiff followed him, not fifty paces apart. But Sarkani disappeared without a trace.He may have climbed the right-hand slope to the top, or he may have abandoned his accomplices and descended alone to Monte Carlo. The steep ramp is the former site of the ancient Roman plank road, starting from the city of Dolby and going down to Nice.The city of Nice is located halfway up the mountain, surrounded by rocks, conical hills, and cliffs that extend all the way to the railway.The stars twinkle in the night sky, and the crescent moon rises from the east. Under the moonlight, six bays can be seen faintly: St. Opis Island, the Estuary of the Vail, the Gallup Peninsula, the Point of Antibes, the Gulf of Jouang, the Leyland Islands, the Naples Bay, and further away, the Elaborate de Lai Mountains.There were port lights shining here and there: the Lighthouse of Port Delioux under the Patty-Avery Cliffs, the lighthouse of Villefrancs overlooking the Lebys, and the lights of some fishing boats reflected in the calm sea. It was past midnight, and Silas Dronta almost ran out of Dolby City.Abandoning the steep slope, he took a narrow path leading to the half-civilized town of Eza, which was likened to an "eagle's nest," perched proudly on its cliffs.Pine trees grow on the plateau below the hanging rock. The trail was deserted and deserted.The irrational banker did not slow down and ran along the path for a while without looking back.Then turn suddenly to a trail on the left near the edge of the sea cliff.There are high cliffs, and railways and roads pass through tunnels under it. Boscard and Martiff followed closely behind Silas. Silas finally stopped a hundred paces away.He just ran to a cliff that protruded forward on the cliff.Hundreds of feet below, rough waves crashed against the base of the cliff. What does Silas want to do?suicide?Jump off a cliff to end your own mean life? "To hell with it!" said Boscade, "we must catch him alive! . . . Get him, Matiff, and don't let him get away!" But before the two of them ran twenty steps, they saw a person flashing out from the right side of the path, quietly touching the slope among the frankincense and yellow lotus bushes, and climbing towards the rock of Silas Doron Tower. This person is Sarkani. "Oh, for God's sake!" said Boscade, "he's trying to punch his fellow and send him to heaven! . . . Matiff, you get one... I'll get one!" Suddenly Sarkani stopped... he recognized... At last he swore "Damn it!" and, before Burscade could catch up with him, he sprinted to the right and disappeared among the brambles. A moment later, when Silas Dronta was about to jump, Matiff caught him and pulled him back to the road. "Let me go!" . . . he cried, "Let me go! . . . " "Let you go astray, Mr. Doronta? No way!" Boscade replied. The smart boy was not prepared for this unexpected incident, because he did not expect anything in advance. Although Sakani escaped just now, he has captured Silas Doronta, and now he only needs to be escorted to Antaiji special go.There, he will get what he is entitled to. "Is it okay to send this gentleman back for less money?" Boscade asked Matiff. "Very willing to oblige!" Burscard went ahead, followed by Matiff.Since Silas Dronta was unprepared for what happened, he did not resist.After going up a long and steep downhill, Matiff had to be dragged from time to time.Carrying this lifeless body from time to time.This trail leads to the beach, which hugs the cliffs. It was extremely difficult to go down the mountain.Had it not been for the extraordinary agility of Boscade, and the superhuman strength of his companions, they would have fallen into the ravine and been smashed to pieces. After going through all kinds of hardships, they finally descended to the rock at the level of the sea.Here, countless small bays embedded in sandstone mountains form the coast. Behind these small bays, there are tall light red cliffs. reef. At dawn, Boscade found a hiding place in the depths of some rocks.These deep depressions are formed by cliffs of ages of geological change.They could put Silas Doronta in there and let Matiff watch over him. Matiff took the banker in, but the banker didn't seem to notice, nor was he surprised or disturbed by it. Then Boscade walked up to Matiff and whispered: "You stay here, my Matiff!" "I'll stay here all the time!" "Not even leaving for a moment for twelve hours?" "Yes! Twelve hours without leaving!" "you're not eating?……" "I can skip lunch, save lunch until evening, and have it together with dinner." "If you can't eat at night, then eat four meals together!" After all, Matif sat on the rock and guarded the Duolong Tower.As for Boscade, he began to walk along the coast from cove to cove, gradually approaching Monaco. Boscade would be back soon, not as long as he thought.In less than two hours, he found the electric speedboat parked in a remote cove.The cove is protected by rocks from the pounding of the sea.An hour later, the speedboat arrived in front of a narrow cove: seen from the sea, Matif sat on a rock, like Proteus in Greek mythology who shepherds sheep for the sea god. After a while, Silas Dronta and Matif were on board.Then the boat slipped away, not even the fishermen along the coast noticed by the customs officers.It moved forward at full speed, heading towards Antekyte.