Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-10-14

such as to deter the bravcst on board from
administering the chastscment which he so
richly deserved. lie was huge mass Of
mighty bones and muscles, with swarthy fea-
lures, bearing the impress Of many soar !;
piercing dark eyes, that seemed to possess the
power Of blasting the bcholdcr-cold, gleam-
ing eyes, such as haunt the memory painfully +;
rank luxurance of cold-b black hair, i'm
mense whiskcrs and moustache This savage.
looking figure was hubited in the costlicst
clothing, and adorned with profusion of
jcwelry, while the outlines of several murder
Gus weapons were plainly distingushabe be.
meath his gaudy vest and superine coat. Nor
did he need this to render him an object Of
terror. A connoisseur in the science of bel
ligercnt gymnastics would have confidently
pronounced him match for any five men on
the deck, without any aid from lead or cold
steel.
At length after many failures, he prevailed
on wealthy young merchant of Natchez to
join him at game of poker. They sat down
at small table near the bar, and were soon
absorbed in that most pcrilous of all excite
are vanity and pride of individual skill, and
the stakes wcro small, and the run of cards
'o0ou ""u''J :" ,'''' VI ."o "''i '',"n'' ou'
p,esenuy '"ly ". ,noso l.eo'y, anu eo'o ca,
S'.o "lu mu'Iiou y, uo!'.t 'o''s were snow, 'eo
NV. y, ou .uo oo".u "'sn eA''"VaSa"' a'oNi'
luz ha @ ."en eno cu'aen. o' io'.une cnangesleo
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'';h. ?r,, uo's"I =. '!'"' 'oS summer
"'S"' ~ '''o"s''y o' ':,e'' e%c''e'''e"' 80 oo
o""'o oNu''"'o". 20 '"s""''y' n'ery nerve
""' a'' e"e'sy u p'"'" was ''He"
~ ."o u.'i"' W." "''I sc' '','ru =. az
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'o '"'"' 'o'''u ''o''' '"''' o'o"S '"c S'e'''
u'"pH nt' VI f"'"'
Nv ." ".. 1,,'1n .,,"u "."n .t,uSt ,
which such extraordinary concentration of in
tcllcct and passion never fails to inspire even
in bosoms that shud.lcr at it's excess The
merchant aud the gambler attracted all eyes
and kept many awake and gazing till morning
Among the latter was one presenting coun-
tcnancc 80 pitcous that it might have melted
hearts of marble to tears A pale and OK.
uuisitely beautiful face pecped necessarily
from the half opened door of the ladies' cab
in, weeping all the while as if oppressed by
some dreadful sensation of immediate sorrow.
1t was the merchants lovely wife, weeping
her farewell to departed hojc
There was one speaker also, whose appear
ance and actions excited almost as much curl
osity as the players did themselves. He was
tall, spare man of about thirty, with hand
some features, golden hair, keen blue eyes of
prcternaturul brightness, and his firm thin
| ips wore perpetual smilc-a mysterious
smile of the strangest, the most inscrutable
meaning. With the exception of his red cal
leo shirt, this person was dressed wholly in
buckskin, ornaucnted with long swalng tas
sells, and wild figures wrought of varegated
beads after the fashion of some western In
dians. lie stood close beside the card table,
and held in his left hand sheet of paper, in
his right large poncil, with which ever and
anon he dashed off word, as if engaged in
tracing the progress Of the game.
Still the merchant and the gambler per
severed in their physical and mental toll
The dial Of the stars, with its thousand fingers
of golden fire, pointed to the word shadows
of midnight; but still Vhcy did not pause
1t still was "shuffle and cut, and pass, ante up,
and call you, and rake down the pile" 70.
ward the morning a tremendous storm arose.
The red tightening flashed awfully-the hail
poured like frozen cataract the great river
roared till it rivaled the loudcst thundcrs of
heaven; and the very pilot at tho wheel was
alarmed. But the mad players heard it not.