The Planters' banner. [volume] (Franklin, Attakapas Co., Lou.) 1849-1872, 1871-02-22
qbt 4lmters' 8auner.
tamilp lieaoino ano Neus ltsms.
ADV EMU Il + IN a MING
HOUSE.


0o">">7-oo>- -0~-~oo-- ~--~------------
ADNENTUR RE IN A N1JNt
HOUSE.
Ii was in the spring of 1885. that 7 foun
myself gliding upon the waters IF the m;ch,
Mississippi. and bound for New Or,enn,
vita a single exception, had formed n
travelling acquaintance on board the boo,
he individual with whom /. siurulorl
| enough, fratsrnized, seemed, like mvse!i
to have little inclination to extend his ,c
quaintance among the passengers. though h,
seemed to be constantly upon the lookout fo,
some one, and from the close manner II
which regarded the operations of two o,
three or four of those individuals whose ,ro.
fuse display of vest chains and ieweIry. and
proficiency with cards a: the tables in the
saloon. betrayed their profession. | more
than cnce set him down as som. sort nf a
i",,0- &c detective in Disguise.
tuckyAs his card i3 Ftau wr',sH trt ne gave me
in exchange for mine. Full six feet in height.
light curly hair, muscular arms, and the
chest of a Hercules, he challenged the ad-
miration of more than one OF his fellow pas
senge,s. as with his serious, never-smiling
face. he paced the promenade deck or sat,
apparently buried in thought. in the saloon,
''Do you ever play at cards, said to him
as he left group. that were standing ut IA
table Of four players, and noting the progress
of the game. l had frequently seen hin,
invited. out he invariably. like myself, re-
fused to participate in the game.
"Oh, yes" he replied. '.but where is the
use OF playing here These fellows" nod
ding towards the players, lean tell any card
III the pack by their backs. and they are
trying hard to pluck some poor pigeon from
among the passengers, but ITS yet with indif-
frrent success; beware of them. sirr'
10 convince me of the truth of what he
said no called the steward of the boat and
ordered a.fresh pack of cards. which were
brought, and he handed the pack tn me
bidding me TO shuttle them. | did So. wien
he Immediately selected nearly every ace
anu king from the pack without. looking at
the face of them. Next be dealt .hrm il.
two parcels, one to me. and the other to him
self, when, upon examination, found tha;
oil the cards Of real value were in his hand
although could detect no unfairness as he
dealt them.
''You Sec" said he, "the advantage an
full player
Il do. indeed, replied. r>lorished at
my fell travellers dexterity. and begin
ming to think he might oe reformed gam
bier. or one playing possum" for some pur-
pose or other; but as he did not urge or even
invite me to play. nor lad played with any
one else. and threw the cards aside with an
expression of disgust too natural to be as
sumcd, came to the conclusion that my
suspicious were unjust, and my travelling
acquaintance was u riddle yet to be solved.
Early the next morning the. boat arrived
kan. not even seeing him to bid him adeu.
The same evening. however. after visiting
the theatre. was enjoying the cool air and
fragrant Havana IN the rOtunda of the st.
Charles Hotel. aud conyers;ng with friend
from the North whom had fortunately met.
when who should encounter bnt my steam
boat acquaintance.
After the usual greetings our conversation
turned on our trip down the river. our pas
seneers, etc.. when my fcl!ow-traveler re-
marked that if | would like to visit the inte
riur of gambling house, or hell, as it Il
sometimes more appropriately called. HI
would be pleased to show it to US as one
the sights of the city. Never having wit
messed anything Of the kind, both and m.
friend asspnted, and after short walk. W
found ourselves within the precincts of on
of those glittering and gorgously furnishe
!, esta stablishments-vestibu! to the intern;
regions-where men are engaged IN varioa
games Of hazard. The iuterlor OF gam
bling house has been too frequently describe
to need repetition. The faro bank with il
. crowd of visitors, the rouge ct noir with II
d anxious circle. and groups OF players
: other games Of Which was ignorant OF til
name, were all busily engaged as we ei
> tered. Wol,ad passed through two apar
v ments, and reached a third in which wei
g but four players, playing in pairs at diffe
d ent tables. As we entered, we sat down
d an unoccupied table for u moment. when,
r we did SO, we heard one of the two mt
5. nearest to us say to his opponent:
= That's the las, dollar, the luck is your
and I'm cleaned out"
but you wear good ring" said his q"
d ponent. ..See. will back my ring again
st YOURS on the next game. It's u ring l th
I, won from Kentucky boy that came to M
: Dreams to see the sights" said he careles
E ". -,
of As the player, who was sitting with !
IS. pnrtiallv toward us, mentioned Kentucky
pc his conversation, saw Thorn listen wi
n ,aseruess, and ms he twisted the ring viii
n 2; he offered to ct upon his finger. the he
se tuckian turned deadly pale. His ey
ng clowed like FIRE for an instant, then
countenance again assumed its calm d
| nlacid look, and to our amazomPnt, ne rO
md walking across the apartment to
PLAYER who had just been left by his co
m . ,nion, and courteously proposed t" try
ie hand or two with Inn II ayr able, and
'er We. his friends. would excuse him for
sas eIr short time. OF course we assented-so {
nd the gambler, who appeared at first Sou
W what surprised ut the proposition,
Mi Mi nrobably resolved to try his skin upon I
NJ new comer. The cords. were dealt and
n!. my rame proceeded. We were sufficiently II
'ou to see that the piece It GOad which epn'
itnted the first stake VAS won BY oar fritl
onponent: 10 also .vss the eecdnd. 1
1third STAKE I thorn gained. And Z
her they went on, eatsvuut<iy winning and los
he'd t,ll at last Thorn ess~lsssly obscrved:
err. THAT is pretty ring YOU offered :" d
ow- while ngo. stranger; Viii yen = M
ard ..W~ll. as to that, = ssld the pther, :
ate prxtty enough. aud csst me enough, TO
'i"e young fellow pledged tito me some ~
Inn years ago ms sort Uf no.e OF hand, wi
and he pr omis, to redeem with .hse huno
my dollars he owed me-,a debt ,t honor. $
but he couldn' come to time very We'll,
NV he paycd the debt Of nature as they
~, ~. that night. aud that Cancelled my obiigat
All! the stakes mine, believe" said
..r. he drew the money towards him; sup,
ding We try. larger stake. anything from ON
hnI Eve hundred dollars and lie threw
NO note of ,l,e latter denomination, carelcs