Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-09-04

n anv negro on the ankS of the Congo river
But 10 illustrate the superstition of gamblers,
irrespective If their nativity. A few months
az Two small. suave Italians came to this
town b>icu>ihly they were muSia ns. Fil-
d and harp chaps" he added. in an cxplana-
tory tone. a. he raised his eyebrow at ME in
an inqurlng manner.
nodded my h al to signify that | knew
thu men from sunny Italy who travel i'll
couples and pack musical instruments from
camp t" camp from town t town, from
siloun to saloon.
Well" Alexander said. "thnsr Italians had
plenty Of money. tho ct ii pity that
their lives should be put in danger by their
carving il in a. rough n camp Il, this. SO |
craftly rolcd them int" the game. lproniad
the stool pigeon small sl.arc os the winnings
for la, services. III here remark that the
pigeon did not wax fat on his share The
first evening the Italians came to the house
We played five-handed poker; dead-square
game. understand. Before u dozen hands
hal been played saw that the pluckins of
the Italian pigeons was 70 he about asd f'i,ult
~ Ia salt the tail Of bald headed cage. Be
fore two dozen hands were played realized
that the Italians We're going to pluck me. No
matter how large the pot, only one Italian
ever bet after the draw. OF course they
played together and had code of signals.
Night after night they played in my game,
and nightly they Won from SO to 500 out Of
the hardest game Of poker that know of.
t,,i, IN, Jafo tbair cic
mails So far as | could see they sat
motionleSs, except for the action re-
quired in the game Their eyes were fast
ened ON their cards. They spoke English
only They discarded properly. Their faces
had no more expression than the bottom of a
wash tub After had lost few hundred
dollars began To think that there was some
Italian Nocloo. the evil eye probably, in the
game. So sent to Kokomo for a friend of
mine, who is Vooloo sharp. He came
down. ! told him about the Italians. and
how the game was going. That evening he
sat IN the game. We lost.
After the game broke up he remained with
me, and we talked the matter over Alex
ander,' he said there is VoodOoi in this Now,
You have business out Of town for few days
Leave your rooms in charge of your stewart
Before YOU leave town telegraph to st. Louis
for n rams head. Don't play again until you
receive it. Then sit in the game, and before
the first hand is played shake the rams head
over the table, AMI shake it at short intervals
during the game. That will break the Voc
doc sent for the rams head In week
II was here. Do you want to see it," he
asked
Before | could reply he arose from his
chair and opened a drawer. Out of this he
took n long, black velvet bag. This he opened
and drew forth fleshless rams head that was
surmounted with long, gilded horns. The
head was mounted on staff Of polished
ebony. In the cavity of the skull some gravel
stones, that ratified sharply when shook, had
been placed. 1t was an unca1ny-l looking in
strument. After ] had examined the charm
breaker my friend resumed talking, saying:
The night after | received this, Chestnut, a
short card player from Austin and the Ital-
ians and sat down to play. Just before tho
first draw | reached under the table and
dragged out the rams head andshook it over
the pot The Italians grew pale. Even
Chestnut, man of approved courage, looked
solemn. That night won few dollars more
from the Italians than had previously lost.
They refused to play longer unless l quit
shaking the rams head. This refused to do
They left town the next day. Now, Of
course, " he added, ironically. there was no
Noodoo, of course not. The rams head did
not break the charm. But be that as it may,
intend to keep the head to use ON the next
couple who presume to Voodoo my game"
l was disappointed with Alexander, and
went to bed, leaving him seated by the fire,
whistling loudly and carefully wiping the
dust of Of his rams head.
| FRANK WIKESoN.
BRIDGE HAMPTON L. l.