Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-04-13
renth Letter from RIynnks.
CHARLESTON. S. c.. April 10, 1861

had just been swindIed out OF my last red
and had MT had solitary drink in eighteel
hours. I confess that 1 ought to be wei
cheap; but the scoundrels who did it had 81
much the appearance of perfect gentlemen
that 1 would have trusted them entirel,
around the world with any amount of money
you could name. Their game was yer,
common oue-I had read of it in the newspa
pers dozen times; but was so thoroughly
blinded by their genteel appearance ant
their internal suaritT IN naodo, that / did n
once think that they had any design upon my
purse. 1 would MT hate the thing so muef
if they had swindled me by some new ant
original game; but to think that was trick
ed by one of the stalest and most transpa
rent lodges known to the profession, is hu
initiating in the extreme, and / am sorry
that 1 ever said anything about it.
Richmond, like most cities of its size in
this country, is an unpleasant place for g
stranger 10 be in without money; and was
seriously thinking of turning dray-driver as
a means of raising 4 sufficient amount OF
funds to take me out of the town, when !
accidentally met young man of the name
of SwoBBER, whom used to meet occasion
ally on Cedar street in Nashville. Like my
self be had encountered a run of bad luck
and had but twenty dollars in the world. 1
related my circumstances to SwoBBER, and
SwOBBER with equal candor related his cir
cumstances to me. We agreed to double
teams, and make an effort to supply our
selves with means to defray our current ex-
penses. By selling an overcoat, and a pair
of Derringers that had no particular use
for, managed to raise twenty dollars, and
this with SwoBBsR's twenty made forty
quite enough for one of US, but not enough
for both.
/ took the amount, converted it into two
and-a-half gold pieces, put it in my panta-
looms pocket, and having given SwOBBER his
instructions, took fine, large drink and
cigar, and made myself easy. SwOBBER, vino
is naturally shrewd young man, was not
long in discovering that there were couple
of gentlemen in the neighborhoOd who had a
dollar or two that they would mt mind put
ting in jeopardy at a game of cards. SwoBBER
fell in with these gentlemen in an accidental
sort of way, and during a conversation he
had with them on the subject of the Southern
Conlederacy, mentioned incidentally that he
had just made the acquaintance of
wealthy sugar planter from Louisiana, who
had come to Richmond to buy negroes
with a small steamboat load of money.
which he was gambling away like water.
These gentlemen corrupted SwoBBER in fif-
teen minutes, and gave him fifty dollars to
throw the wealthy sugar planter from Louis
lana in their way need not pause to say that
that wealthy sugar planter from Louisiana
was your friend BLYNNKs of blessed memory,
nor that SwoBBER found no great difficulty
in throwing me in the way of his new ac
quaintances. The consequence was We were
soon engaged in the liveliest game of cards
you perhaps ever saw. They professed to be
playing merely for amusement, while l, who
had apparently taken as many julips as the
constitution and bylaws of the Sons ofTem-
peganee are supposed to allow, professed to
be playing because bad more money than
/ knew what to do with. believe remarked
few minutes before the game was propo-
sed. that if had known whenI left home that
negroes were so scarce in Virginia, / could
have left about half my pile in the Bank of
Louisiana and would still have had more than
though to Abolitionize the State. When 1
sat down to the game, felt about my clothes
e. affo
ing couple of checks for twenty thousand
each, which / carried in my vest pocket,
thrust my hand into my pantaloons and
drew out fist full of the two-and half gold
pieces SwoBBER and 1 had provided for the
OCCASION
am by no means whole team at cards;
but as / anticipated, 1 won nearly every
game, and at the end of an hour had accu-
INFLATED little pile of three hundred dol
lars. felt then that the time had come for
me to give the fancy touch to the game, forI
very well knew that the tide that had been
permitted to flow in my direction, would soon
turn against me, and that would be cleaned
out completely. 1 therefore determined TO
leave.
"Gentlemen," said 1 suddenly, throwing
down the cards and showing back my chair,
"thi. is mere chiId's play-T'm not used to it
let's run up the figure to five hundred or
thousand, or shall be asleep in ten minutes
what do you say ,"
"Goodin said my new friends, evidently
delighted at the proposition.
We'll, then, order up another basket of
champagne, and hold on here five minutes
until step over to my room and get gen.
supply of funds-but here, perhaps
one Of you can cash me this little check ~
"No," said they, mot conveniently; hurry
up the cakes aud wen wait"
stepped out of the room and closed the
door behind me. Putting my ear to the key
hole for moment, 1 heard one of them say
with a low, cheerful laugh
"Devilish soft. but an uncommonly healthy
subjec'-order up that green-seal-he'lI pay
for it''
"Yes. rather soft" said L to myself, as 1
walked down stairs, I" but let him laugh Rho
win-."
iound SwoRBER waiting for me under a
nei ghboring gas-lamp. handed him a hum
dred dollars Us his share of the nett pro-
ceeds of the first presentation of the great
moral spectacular drama of The Wealthy
Louisiana Sugar Plante, OF the Richmond
boards. and in ten minutes we had taken
julip aud gone to bed
Well, we'll 3 fellow has to live. you know;
and IL be Is satisfied that preaching the Cos
pei, or distributing pious documents for the
American Tract Society, il not his forte, be