The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-10-13
4 FAI RO EALER DR.

About the eame's morality
think that's neither here nor there;
It's pretty much like Other. games
When dealt upon the 81 Isre.
If men have coin and wantto play,
The law wont hinder them q Bit
In time hey learn 1t doesn't pay,
Anithen they sometimes quit.
I've dealt the game Tor thirty years
I've lett it now; l didn't fail
/ sic. ened at one sight l saw,
And thereby hangs a tale.
Some three years since l ran q game
A high toned one-dead m the square
film not wrong you know the place:
think I've seen you there.
Well, sir, I rama thriving game,
And dealt for half the biOods in town.
I've had as much as five LAY -Ou
And no chance to sit COwa.
One evening q young chap str0lled in
Fair hair, blue eyes, and q 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 blne eve that love of play;
And sfter that inst evenings deal
He scarcely missed day.
He played his pile right up and up.
And never giOwled ii mis- luck war hard;
He'd stack the limit up in blue
On every second card.
His luck was hard: sometimes the worst
lever saw. and I've seeL lots;
seen him in q single deal
Lose seven double shots.
Business for me, of course, and yet
Sometimes IL almost seemed too bad.
OF course l couldn't say q word,
But still l Ikea the lad.
He'd lots of cash, though; I'should think
He must have dropped since the first day,
A hundred thousand, first and last,
Before he gave up. play.
We both quit gambling the same night
He, poor boy, tor sufficient cause;
And / because / loathed the game,
And this is how it was:
He didn't have much coin along;
1t gave out in q deal or two
So he put up q diamond ring
To see mis- i'll luck though.
The chips soon went. He had a pin,
A flaming stone in massive gold
Without a word he passed itln,
And drew five hundred cold.
So help me God! 1 wished him luck,
As did each player in the place,
But no, his last check came my way
Upon a losing ace,
He handed in his watch and chain.
And drew, 1 think, three hundred more,
And tried his line OF bets again
His luck was as before.
NY God! 1 never shall forget
The pale, draw II look upon his face
Rut still he never spoke q word,
And never left his place.
His hands lay where his chips had been.
And moved, sometimes, as ii to bet
4. thin, worn circlet of dull gold
Was on his finger yet.
At last it caught his eye; he stopped
And looked at it a little space,
A dark wave of crimson blood
Passed holly DER his face.
And then he drew it Oft came
Reluctantly y, this worn old ring
Far closer than the flashing gem
That circlet seemed to cling.
He handed 1t across to me:
."Idon't know what its value is,
But Ill redeem it first of all
What can l have ON this"
took the ring; it might have cost
Fifty dollars-it was worthless then,
But | passed out a fifty stack
To let him try again.
He planked the pile. down in the pot,
Then low pom the table laid
His head upon his folded arms.
And so that deal was played.
Well, the luck changed; he won three times;
l told him when the limit barred;
Hetook no notice-so we played
Three hundred on tach card.
Would you believe it il that deal
The pot won out, and never lost:
And still the winner hid his face
Upon his wOa arms crossed.
The deal was out. l spoke to him
He did not stir. l raised his head;
And there, amid his piled up gains,
The boy was sittidg-DEAD.
I've often wondered to myself
What thoughts were fitting thro' bis mind
Wien he bent down his fair, young face,
And hid it from mankind.
What pledges of a better life,
Regrets for fortunes spent in vain.
And loathing OF his by-gone course,
Were burning in his brain.
We do not know-it is as well
Such pangs we guess at, we do net feel
His face showed countless years of hell,
Lived through in that brief deal.
1t was not until the inquest sat
That I learned all remorse's sting
The ring that changed his luck and life
Mas his dead mothers ring.
Poor boy, had his sad lot been cast
NTH different or better men,
He might be living now. For me
have never dealt again.
q. H. Jess0p.