The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1858-12-17

parson prayed and exhortedks MN N zeal
that would have done honor TO ne most
celebrated of the revivdlistsss,s9 - -
The impression producedsby thq}qh hfsice;
| am sorry to say, was notlpermade
when evening came, the gaming teS{ts as
spread out as usual, and the gat69 10xf-
menced. The mysterious ,gaidb blet }ppkar,
ed again, much to the surprise OF Ab,
it was believed that he had landed on besh
lost overheard. He played,s and swept
the board'as before Someof the Neaker
ones began to think he was the devil in
disguise, and their belief was almost con
firmed when the next day nothing could
be found of him .-f !. =
The passengers made him the subject
! of their conversation, and qaite an excite
ment was kindled The captain swore, if
he ever appeared again, he would throw
him into the river. A thorough seaph
was ma lie for him, but all in vaift vMy
Methodist friend was especially y int Dsn &
and believed it would be good r21A4to
hang every gambler As soon as sA~.%p-.,
chara cter was discovered, agreed
him entirely.
One young man from Cnciry -
particularly distressed in the s,ddeR Rd&
appearance of the blackleg, for ho had /,
under the influence of an overdose of bran-
dy, staked and lost half eagle, which his
mother had given him just befose her
death 1t was not the loss of the money
that distressed him, for he had plenty of
that but it was the associations conneotcd'
with the coin itself There was'a histsvy
belonging to it, he said, and he wDulk
give the gamblr double the value OF it, IL
he would return it, with little ring at.,
tached to it. &c
That evening to the disappointment of
all on board, who were prepared to deal
with him in summary manner, the black
leg did not appear. Man or devil, he had
the means of knowing of the inSigaation
his acts had caused. There was strange
mystery about him. Every part of the
steamer was again scare ed in vain for
him, and it seemed certain that he could
not have gone ashore. =
The next day | was talking with the
Rev. Mr.. Goggles, not about the gambler,
but on general topics. OF course. bis life,
~ I 9 ;oid nc nc how chcaply he lived aud trav-
elled from place TO place; that he-was Of
ten hungry, aud never had over ten dol
lars at once. -
q have only five, now," he said; and
to verify his statement, he took<f rom his
pocket half eagle. 81,
glanced at it. There was IN II,
with rf6g attached 1t was ctat4nly.
the psoperty Of the young man from ln-
cinatti ~esfk
what is this ring for?" | axs3
"This piece was given to me b$&wo-
mau in Arkansas who was converted nfs-
der my preaching"
The liar I had already made up my
mind that he was an impUstor, m short,
that he was the mysterious gambler. Be-
fore dinner, had an opportunity tosThis-l
per my view to the captain, and while We
were at dinner, his state room was search
ed. A large sum of money was isund,
there, and many Of the gamblers tools, as,
well as the dress unknown" had worn.
" Parson, can you swim 2" asked the
captain as the Reverend Mr.. Goggles came
upon the boiler deck.
A little," he replied with denur
smile.
You will have chance to try; am
going to throw you overheard.
Tho captain took him by the collar, and
explained the matter to the astonished
passengers, who were quite ready to assist
in emptying his pockets, and then thr6v-
ing him overheard. The money taken
from him was paid over to his victims.
TIE last we saw of him, he was swim
ming vigorously towards the shore, ours
ing the captain with quite as much zeal as
he had used in praying and exhorting.
The young man from Cincinatti got his
cherished coin, ana l trust, learned use.
full lesson.