The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1883-09-22
a FARO DEALERS STORY,

n EAksO Deal ER9S STORY.
About the games morality
think that's neither here nor there;
It's pretty much like other games
When dealt upon the square.
Ifmen have coin and want to play,
The law won hinder them bit.
In time they learn it doesn't pay,
Aud then they sometimes quit.
I've dealt the game for thi,ty years
I've left It cow; L didn't fail =
sckened at one sight saw,
And thereby hangs tale.
SOM three years since l ran game
high-toned one dead on the square
L I'm not wrong you know the place;
| TN nix I've seen you there.
ell, sir tn living game,
And dealt for half he bloods in town
Pve had as much as five lay-outs,
And no chance to sit down
One evening a Young chap strolIed in
Fair hair. blue eyes, and clear-cut face;
So fresh that you could see he was
A stranger in the place
He was at home, though, for saw
In his blu 9 eye the love Of play;
And after that first evenings deal
He scarcely missed a day.
lie played his pile right up and up,
And never growled if luck was hard;
He'd lack the limit up in blue
On every second card.
His luck was bad-sometimes the worst
l ever saw, and pve seen lots;
I've seen him in a single deal
Lose seven double shots.
Business for ne, of course, and yet
Sometimes it almost seemed too bad.
Of course I couldn't say q word,
But still / liked the lad.
He'd lots Of cash. though should think
lie must have dropped, since the first day,
hundred thousand, first and last
Before he ga7e up play,
We both quit gambling the same night
He poor boy, for sufficient cause;
And because l loathed the game
And this was how it was.
lie didn't have much coin along;
1t gave out in deal or two
So he put up diamond ring
To see his ill luck through.
The chips soon went. He had pin,
A flaming stone in massive gold
Without word he passed it in,
And drew five hundred cold.
So help me- God wished him luck,
AS did each player in the place,
But no, his last check came my way
Upon losing ace.
lie handed in his watch and chain,
And drew, think, three hundred more,
And tired his line of bets again
The luck was as before.
My God / never shall forget
The pale, dra yn 'ook upon his face
But still he never spoke word,
And never left his lace.
His hand lay where his chips had been,
Ana NOV ed, at times, as it to bet
A thin, worn circlet OF dull Id
v az on his finger ct.
At last i caught his eye; he stopped
And looked at 1T litle space,
A dark wave OF crimson blood
Passed hotly DER his face.
And then he drew 1T Gift came
ReIuctantl this worn old rlng-
/ ar closer Lhau the flashing gem
That circIeL aeened TO cling.
He handed it across to me;
81 don't know what its value is,
But I'll redeem il first 0, al -
What can have on4tnls?''
/ took the ring; it might have cost
F fly dollars--it was worthless then,
But pa sed out q Fifty stack
To let him Try again.
He planked the pile down in the pot,
Then low upon the table laid
His head upon his 70 ded arms,
AND so that al was played.
Well, the luck changed; he won three times;
told him when the limit barred; ii
He took no notice-so we played
Three hundred on each card
Would you believe it? in that deal !
The pot won out. and never Lost; +,
md still the winner mid his face
Upon his two arms .sed.
The deal was out. spoke to him
He did not stir. l raised his head;
md there, amid his piled up gains,
The boy was sitting-DEAD! |
we often wondered to myself {
What thoughts were fitting thro' his mind
When he bent down his fair, young face, :
And hid it from mankind.
Fhat pledges Of better life,
Regrets for fortunes spent in vain,
nd loathing OF his by-gone course,
Were burning in his brain. l
re do not know-it is as well
Such pangs we guess at, do not feel II
Is face showed countless years of hell, In
Lived through in that brief deal. J.
was not until the inquest sat IL;
That learned all remorss's sting !.
he ring that changed his luck and life !
Was his dead mothers ring.
oor boy! had his sad lot been cast
With different or better men,
e might be living now. For me- a
] never dealt again.
&c. II. Jesssp, in the Judge. =,
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BOLD BANDITS. !, !,
Condensed Account of the dc