Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-07-25
DO ARMY OFFICERS GAMBLE
A Little Game of Poker In. Which a Wizar
Took a Friendly interest.

a Little tame OF FokeT IN WntC0 WIZARD
Took Friendly Interest.
From the New York SUM-
.'Do army officers gambler" A we'll
known Indian fighter on furlough re-
peated the question of a reporter Of the
Sun with al cir of grim amusement.
ssWeIl. sir, [ can only answer for my
self but / DO not; and J. may add for
your satisfaction that [ do not beat my
wife. In fact, added the brave old ma
jor gravely, L shouldn't dare to do
either
But you are familiar with the recent
scandals-the case of Mai. Nickerson,
whose wife seems to have beaten him III
the courts, and that of Paymaster Was
son ?"
1.-Two wives, like three aces, are new
er safe to gamble on, observed the ma
jor sententiousiy. 'They look pretty,
but they confuse a mans Judgment and
are relatively weak. -
SIS not poker playing very common
among the officers of the army, espec-
i5lly on frontier posts ?" asked the re-
porter.
g don't mind admitting to you that
this card playing for money is very
bad thing for the army. It's against
army regulations, and contrary to good
discipline, and II plays the very devil
with the youngsters; but, bless my sou,
sir. you might as well try to cashier
blizzard or court martial food on the
Missouri as to abolish cards In the ar
nv, Human nature is human nature,
even when it reports for duty at Fort
Sill or Fort Arbuckle, and the days out
there, especially the stormy ones, are
apt to stretch out as long as an Indian
bucks idea of his treaty rights. They
will play poker, sir, and l suppose l
should play, too, if hadn't had good
lesson twenty years ago"
8 Yes, sir" he continued, sit was
near the end Of the war, just before APP
pomattox, that got sick of cards. Poor
-, who was IN the Custer affair, and l
were on our way to the front to be IL at
the death. We were both captains in
the same regiment, and he was quarter
master.
''We had just left Washington, and
sat quietly smoking when two men On
the car asked US to make up euchre
table. OF. course the game drifted into
poker IN q short time, and after losing
all I cared to risk, quietly dropped out
and gave my whole attention to watch
ing the two strangers, who, suspected,
were Systematically cheating, but whom
| could not detect Id any unfair play.
"The hands ran small and the game
dragged. Once, when all three were IN,
one Of the strangers bet $50, and, when
the captain refused to call, exposed
worthless hand on the table with an evil
laugh. I noticed, though, that the other
stranger did not indulge in like folly,
neither showing his hands nor calling.
'sThe next deal the captain received
four queens and small card. There was
lively betting before the draw, and then
he drew a king. I saw the king as he
picked it up The dealer drew cards,
How many I do not remember, and the
other stranger, after some clumsy hesi-
tation, decided to stand his hand, hold
ing the age.
'sPresently the dealer, the man who
had once bet fifty on worthless hand,
raised the captain a hundred, and the
age man, who had stood his hand,
dropped out. Then the storm that had
been brewing broke; the dealer made no
disguise Of consulting with his moneyed
partner, and the captain no longer tried
to look as If he were blufing. Out of
their combined funds the strangers man
aged to make raise Of q thousand dol
lars.
ssTheir cards lay on the table III front
of each, the dealers arm lying across
the pack as ne looked triumphantly at
his adversary. The stranger had eVi-
IDENTIFY gauged the captains resources to
q fine point. As the train stopped l
leaned over him and whispered word of
warning, while the scamp across the ia
BILE scowled as Il he would ike to pick a
quarrel with me for interfering.
SO Lay down such hand as that
Nonsense was all the satisfaction [ got
from the captain, but he held up my
cards for his inspection, and L assure
you, sir. on my honor as gentleman
and an officer, that In place Of the stray
king 7 had seen him draw, was an ace,
an ace OF diamonds, sir, thanking his
four queens. OF course, the hand was
not intrinsically worth more than be-
fore. but the whereabouts of that float
inc king had become an important fac
tor. and when the captain asked me TO
lend him money determined TO see the
thing out, and emptied my pockets as
eagerly as be did. Unfortunately [ had
but seven hundred, and, all told, we
could only muster eight hundred.
mot enough, sneered his opponent
with an insolence that made me III turn
long for the row he evidently sought.
VIII You take my watch and cham
for the balance?' asked the captain.
.ssNot much; we amt pawnbrokers.
And his companion ADDED: Wen
show you what we are, if you want to
know bad, when the game IS done.
The pair had thrown oil all disguise
y and looked just what they were, two
fourth rate sharps.
gsG coll q irgb+ for tho money on the