Omaha daily bee., 1874-06-04

then vanished, just how nobody
could tell, though I have heard that
the best cuchillO i'm Mexico has been
hunting for him this past month.
No one knows who he is, where he
came from, nor where he lives.
Some even say that he is the devil"
And here the superstitious Spaniard
devoutly crossed himself. "But let
him be what he may, 1 wish he
would impart his secret to me-"
Around the adjoining table the
faro players were gathered, where q
smooth, oily, cat-like Southerner
dealt, a huge bowie, with a ten inch
blade, sticking in the table before
him. Shutting the cards he placed
them in the silver box; then, while
waiting for the players to make
their game, he said, tapping tie
silver hilt of his bowie:
Gentlemen, you see this? I
play on the square, and l warn you
all that the first man 1 catch trying
to confuse the stakes will have his
hand pinned to the table :"
As no remarks followed that blunt
statement, one would infer that
such a trick as confusing the
stakes" by suddenly shifting from a
losing card the money staked there
on was not entirely unknown. We
watched the deal nearly out, when,
improbable as it may seem, a seedy
looking greaser" suddenly shifted
his stake, his quick eye detecting
the losing card ere it was fairly I'M
covered.
Thud went the knife as swift as
the lightning's flash, true to the eye
as Kit Carson's long "Harkins,"
and the greaser's hand was pinned
to the table! Instantly all was
confusion around the table, each
man instinctively shrinking back as
the glittering blade flashed before
his eyes, while with a single sharp
yell of pain, the greaser bent over
the g~old-laden table.
His pain must have been intense;
for the broad blade had penetrated.
through the back of his hand; sew
ering one or more of the bones, fas-
tening his palm upon the trifling
stake he had wished so much to
cover. And yet, as 1 stood at the
end of the table, l distinctly saw
the rascal slip his left hand beneath
his body and clutch a handful of
the golden ounces from the pile of
his next neighbor, then drop them
unperceived down his wide boot
leg! The sharp jingle of the coins
he deadened by another shrek and
a long-winded vOlley of all the
curses i'm his vocabulary, which
would have put to the blush the old
est ''bull-whacker of prairie freight
ing days.
The dealer 'pOlitely cursed" the
Greaser for a few moments, then
withdrew his bowie, wiping it upon
the mans blanket, then calmly re-
sumed the interrupted game. The
Greaser, swapping up his hand,
stole silently away, no doubt think
ing his wound paid for by his adroit
clutch.
1 had been watching a young
man, a casual acquaintance, whom
| knew was a junior partner in a
New Orleans firm. He was playing
heavily, and kept calling for liquor,
which the Obsequious walters
promptly supplied. l would have
spoken to him, but Don Jaime re-
strained me, pointing to the cooked
revolver lying before the man. And
/ did not care to risk a shOt-cer-
tainly ar insult -by making
an effort to drag the young man
away from the table.
Every deal seemed TO go dead
against young Cleveland, and then,
when but one more turn remained
In the box, he flung q large pocket
book OF the table, muttering hoarse-
ly:
ats neck or nothing-if that
loses, then Tll-"
He did not finish the sentence,
but leaned forward, watching the
turn with hated breath, pale as a
corpse, and then the tray fell upon
the losing side!
Scarcely was the result percepti-
BILE than the room rang with a pis-
tOl shot, and Cleveland sank for
ward, his head resting upon the
pOcket-boOk, his brains and blood
bespattering allaround him. Silence
and death came at the same breath.
Shuddering, heartsick, 1 left the
hell, nor has my foot ever crossed
the threshold Of = gambling hell
since that night.