The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-08-16
BY the Sad Sea Waves.

W De UOlu IldU ne was q pnlldnunrOplSt.
1t made itself apparent to me from his
face, his figure and his clothing. Good
ness beamed through the green glasses
that covered his eyes, and gentleness
hung about the lines of his mouth. His
voice pumped up tender tones and said
to me:
Chow full of grandeure is this Scent"
Hooked along the barren beach; and
on to the waters, where the Jersey
shore is visible, and other foreign coun-
tries lie hidden from view, and | then
answered:
at is, indeed!"
"And yet" he unused, STOPPING to pick
up ashell-" and yet it fills me with sad
ness when l reflect that here, in the face
of the mighty ocean, where the bracing
breezes blow and nature offers such glo-
recreation, there should be sharks
lying in wait for those they may
devour."
"SharksT" 1 repeated in amazement.
eyes, my young friend, sharks. Not
of the piscatorial type, but of a much
more dangerous character. Sharks who
walk wei these sands in the shape of
men-land sharks"
81 see," said /.
"This very day." he continued, "have
l been beset by one of these monsters.
l was wandering alone on the upper part
of the island, listening to the murmur of
the waves, when l was accosted by the
said shark. He invited me to join in a
little game which was played with three
cards, and called, think, monkey"
"Monte," l interposed.
"You are right" replied the philan-
thropist. at wa monte. l am a
stranger to such things, and it is not
surprising that 1 mistook the name.
Well, l listened to the voice of the siren
is to the voice of the shark-andl
was lost. So was the five dollars which
l wagered. The shark was positive that
l could not tell where the card was, with
the picture of a woman"
"The queen" l interrupted.
"You are right-the queen. He was
confident, l say, that / could not tell
where the queen was, l was confident
that l could. Our individual condolences
amounted to five dollars each. And
and lost"
"That was unfortunate" saidI. "But
three-card-monte is deceitiul game"
alt is, indeed" answered the philan-
throphist. "And my Indignation toward
that shark rose to such a pitch that l
came very near strangling him. As it
he took to his heels, dropping his
cards as he ran. Afterwards l picked
them up, and-and Ihave them here"
And as he spoke he drew forth from
the inner pocket of his coat a nine-spot
of diamonds, deuce of hearts and queen
of spades.
"There is some satisfaction in getting
hold of the implements of evil" l re-
marked.
"There is indeed-but there was no
satisfaction in knowing how to use those
implements. 1t leads only to wretched-
ness and misery. Nevertheless, since I
CAM into possession of these cards l
have been practicing-merely for my
own amusement, you understandable
manner in which the shark threw them
l am convinced that it was owing to the
skillful or perhaps l should say the de-
ceitful way in which he handled them,
that l lost all my money"
By this time the philanthropist and
had reached a spot on the island where
visitors seldom go. The crowd we had
left behind, and feeling somewhat weary
with our long walk, we sat down upon
the ruins of the clearinghouse, which
the a had washed up on the beach.
There, with the cards in his hand, my
companion began to explain to me what
he thought he understood about the
game of three-card-monte.
at was in some such way as this" he
said, "that the shark threw the cards.
Whereupon he made a very bungling eff
fort to initiate manipulations of a pro
fessional player.
az fear that you would have to BIZ
more dexterous than that in order to de
ceive any one."
"But l have no desire to deceive any
one. lam practicing this sinful game
for a purpose noble and philanthropi,
purpose" Here he again threw The
cards, with even less of success than be
fore. eff l could become an adept a
this game, l would spend my leisure
hours in wandering up and down thu
beach here, warning others against the
tribe of sharks. l would first show then
how certain they are to lose their money
and then, having won it, l would return
it to them, together with a little whole
some advice. In this way 1 should &C
complish a world of good should saw,
others from losses similar to hat which
l have suffered myself"
During this speech the philanthropis
continued to pick up and throw dow
the cards, making very little progress
however, in skillful manipulations.
"You see that l am improving" h,
said, and that in a short time Ishall b.
able to deceive the sharpest eyes. d.
you think that you could pick out tn
queen now yourselfw
l did as he desired without a mo
ment's hesitation. The experiment wa
repeated a half dozen times, and a
often l selected the winning card.
az am afraid, sir" 1 said laughingly
eff you were to put up your money OF
your skill it would prove a very expen
sive amusement"
And yet" he rejoined, throwing tn
cards again, if it were not for my con
scientious scruples against betting,
would be willing to wager you ten dol
lars that you cannot tell me which is tn
queen!"
"My dear sir" I answered, al an
myself morally opposed to betting, AM
yet l am half tempted to accept you
offer, simply to show you how sadly mis-
taken you are"
"If this wager is made at all" said he
" it will be on my part, at least, iron
philanthropic motives" And Icovere'
his wager.
"Now, them" said he, (which is tn
queen"
My eye had been fixed upon the car
all along. Indeed, a small black spo
on one corner enabled me to identify i
with as much certainty as though tn
face had been turned up.
(Which is the queen?" replied tn
philantrhropist.
"This," said l, lifting the card wit
the spot.
1t was the nine-spot of diamonds!
Quietly my companion slid offof tn
clearinghouse, and made his way alon
the white sands of Coney Island-whe
l came to enter the expenses of that da
in my journal, | put down, along wit