Pioche daily record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1872-1876, 1875-09-01
YE CANINE OF DRAH pOQuIER.

Abou Ben Adhem, in an unpleasant
frame of mind one morning. was an.
preached by long-nosed, sad Hooking
man. who propounded to him the query,
"What is remorse %
To which Abou replied, 1.-The humili-
atinR sense of an abject failure"
"What' exclaimed the seeker after
truth, lis there no such thing as sorrow
and regret for wrong doing?''
frequently, my aged infant, fire.
quently. There are minds 80 suscepti-
BILE to proper Impressions, so spiritual
lied, il | may use the expression. as to
feel pang or two after thew have
done a wrong thing; but they are not
common.
Listen to my own experience. A
great many years ago. in Persia, I made
the acquaintance of party of men who
met frequently to indulge in a game
OF cards, which, l presume, you know
nothing OF here, called, in Persia, drah-
poquier. 1t is curious game. The
cards are dealt one at time, till each
has five; then those who are PLAYING, mt
on the centre of the table coin, such az
has been determined upon-say q ko-
peck; then they are allowed to throw as
many cards as they choose, taking from
the pack an equal number, then the man
who sits next to the dealer remarks sar-
castically, 4 am the aged one, impoverish
me, and the betting begins. 1t is a Gu
rious game and is 1uctuating, the play
ers being kept in q pleasant state Of
uncertainty, as to what the others have.
till they come to what they call a show
down.
Well, learned this game, and PLAYED
it with unvarying success for some days,
winning on an average four or five
dirhems at sitting As I gathered in
my spoils, l saw nothing wrong in the
game. 1t seemed to me a most desira.
bic and in all respects gentlemanly
game.
go am sorry l said to myself, for
HatiZ, the bellows-maker, and for Nadir,
the seller of shawls; but Allah knows 1
risk my substance on the cards as do
they, and had they my luck they would
have my money. Be chesm, it is a
highly moral game, and had 1 an hun
dred children l would teach it them.
What is there wrong in it? It is nv
money which l risk; 1t is their money
which they risk. There is no trickery or
cheating in this game, for the cards are
fairly dealt, and we make wagers on our
judgment or our luck. So does tho mer-
chant who buys the wheat of Khurdis-
tan, believing that the crop will be short
and that it will go up. So does the mer.
merchant who sells the corn of Kohmul,
believing that the crop will be heavy and
the price will go down. What is this
but gambling J? If they play with wheat
and corn, why should not Hafiz and
play with cards And then it strength
ems the mind, develops the Judgment,
quickens the reasoning powers, and
broadens, widens and strengthens the
mental man. 1t is noble game and a
great pursuit.
"Thus reasoned 1, joyously.
81 had no remorse, nor did il occur to
me that il was gambling.
But one night it so happened that I
had certainty on Hafz. l had three
cards alike in my hand-that is to say,
three aces-and when the cards were
helped, as the phrase is, took another.
Hafiz drew one card to the four that he
had in his hand, and the betting began.
NOW, four aces is strong hand, there
being but one that can beat it, namely, a
strate- phlush. wagered kopeck to
help Hsfiz on to his ruin. How eloat-
ed over those four aces !! saw nothing
wrong in those four aces, nor in making
out OF Hafiz, the bellows member. all
that he should make by bis trade for a
year. He saw my modest kopeck and
said tina. he would wager dirhem in
addition. Exulting in the strength of
my four aces, I gladly put up the dirhem,
and remarked that such was nv faith in
my hand, that | would impoverisb bin
to the extent Of ten dirhems more. Hafiz
ON whose head light curses saw the
ten dirhems. and boosted me boosted is
a Persian phrase) one hundred dirhems.
l made sure that the four aces was not
an optical delusion, and went him one
thousand dirhems. which he saw, and
came back at me five thousand dirhems,
which, feeling that il would be cruel to
utterly ruin him, I called, without fur.
Their gymnastics.
smilingly I laid down nv four aces
ana reached for the property. Smilinely
ne put away my outstretcbed and eager
hand, and laid down beside nv four aces