River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-09-18
"Hes been through the

said Morgan. "Hes boon through thu
mill himself
Then we might borrow and bring il
up TO five hundred, put in Beardsley.
| Holder thought that would be about
right Then its done, shouted Nor,
gan. Nov show up. How much will
we maker
Double. Listen" And the w,rthy
sophomores put their muddled heads 10.
gether over the soppy restaurant table and
held grave and low.voiced counsel.
In an hour the party broke up. The
result of the consultation was that By
noon of the next day they had each con-
tributed one third of q JOINT fund Of $500
and carried pawn tickets in their left
hand waisf coat pockets where their gold
repeaters should have been Holder took
the money and management into his own
hands. and went after dinner for d pri-
vdte interview with Mr.. Pugsley in q
back room of the "Occident, leaving his
chums IN a state OF suspense on the out
side. When he reappeared there was a
C ,mplacent smile on his countenance that
told of success
you see he said, ''theres TO be a
champion billiard match here on Friday,
and all the sports Will lie up. Then s
our time. Would you believe | had q
regular battle with the sly old coon be
lore brought HIM roundl Said we put
too high value on his poor abilities, and
all that! He'll bring us cut all right =
And the young gentlemen went off to
ponder about anything but their lessons.
Il hnl
and being nervous. They had gone into
die out of neglect if speculation should
cease Friday morning came at last, ana
of course IL could not always he that par
ticular Friday, not even to spite them,
nor to please others whose honeymoon
perhaps il was; nor still Others whose
life would go out with its light so the
sun went down to give birth, IN proper
time, to other morning, and, in going
down, laid heavy, rainy night over the
crowded streets OF the university town.
There was great excitement in the hotels
and bar rooms over the chances of the
day, and irto the heat of it the Young
gentlemen plunged. At 0 O'Clock they
were knocking at green door IN an up
q
tgring gambling room.
Pugsley was these but it was Pugsley
transformed! Every art OF tailor, and
halter, ard bootmaker, and barber lad
combined to make his exterior unexcept-
Ionable. From the polished tip of his
neat boot to the starched purity of his
neckcloth and the glossy dash of his silk
hat, he was Incompatible. As they en-
tered, he tipped one lid over its BLACK eye
10 initiate that he knew what he was
about, and raised his antagonist 1900 on
two jacks and three aces.
"He's q devil2" muttercd Beardslev,
and ordered the waiter to- bring is best
wine. Then they sat and smoked and
chatted and watched him play.
There must be $4,000 ut his right, :
said EIolier.
BY and by the man would play no
more, and the TWO arose and walked up
and down the room arm in arm, and pres
entity Pugsicy dropped ont TO where the
two students were standing, made an APP
pointment to meet him at the ''Occiden
tai" AZ o'clock, and went off, with a
polished bow 70 meet friend at another
place. Ii was 1890.
The young men drank wine, but were
too excited to get tipsy. The cltv hall
clock had not yet struck one when they
walked into the Occidental" There
was no one there but the sleepy clerk
The clock struck, and hands crept
round to half past, but Pugsley did IT
come. They looked INTO each Others
faces With Devil sered eyes for second,
and then Beartlslcy spoke to the clerk:
elias Mr. Pugsley Eeen in lately2"
"Pugsleyl-Pugsley2 Yes, settled up
and y ent East on TIL 1890.
They walked out without saying a word
without daring to face each other But
when they all stood in detected group
in the hall, they all looked again each in
to two CHASTITY faces, anu Holden ex-
pressed Q thoughts of every one in the
short sentence;
Hes gone back On US!
They crept a say into their rooms with
out another word And the conductor
of the 10: 80 train, fifty miles away, was
changing very large bill COR an elegant
passenger who had plenty more OF the
same ,ort in his wallet, and was smiling
sereDely on his way to the races. lie did
not meet the students that season.