St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-04

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up six flights of stairs, removed the vel
low glove from his right hand ana
raped thrice upon the cracked panel
of the janitor's door. The response was
a simultaneous opening OF the door and
furious onslaught upon MIR. Williams
right trouser leg by valorous poodle.
which served the building as burglar
alarm.
Mr.. Williams waited till the poodle's
teeth were firmly set in the cloth, and
then, by a dexterous back flip OF his
leg, projected the dog upward and back
ward over the banister, whence ne de-
cended to the middle of the staircase
with dull thud and sharp yell, and
thence rolled noiselessly to the landing
below.
Accomplishing this defense of his
person, Mr.. Williams bowed affably to
the ianitor, and, slipping quarter into
that functionaIy's hand, requested that
the club room should be opened, lighted
and aired, and that he should be given
a new pack of cards with which to
Rmuse himself at solitaire until the
other gentlemen should arrive:
Ascertaining that the poodle's back
was not broken, although his spirit was,
the janitor opened the room, lighted the
lamp, produced the cards and left Mi.
Williams to himself.
Mr.. Williams game Of solitaire was
somewhat peculiar. For moment he
continued the casino tune, but, after the
door closed he ceased being musical,
listened, stepped softly over and bolted
ihn door and then phupklRd.
eff l doan' pahlize dat camp meetin'
moke terrible!-jumpin' Gabril!-Pll
jess-jess kyarve de stuffin' outen ole
Then Mr.. Williams placed the lamp
upon the table, carefully removed the
cover from the cards, sorted out the
aces, kings, queens and jacks, placed
them face downward and drew out a
stylographic pen. Then he chuckled
again:
EFF doan' lay out ole Glass Eye on
de fuss jackerW
Then, with rapid skill, Mr.. Williams
did as follows: On the right-hand
corner of the back Of each jack he placed
dot. On the back of each queen, in a
similar place, he placed two dots, and
upon the aces four dots. The dots were
small and ingeniously immersed in the
Meanwhile Mr.. Williams chuckled, and
once he remarked:
"Sufferin' EbeneZerl jess femme at
dat gospel peddlerW
With these and with various shifts,
snorts and chuckleS, all menancing the
peace and financial prosperity of the
Rev. Thankful Smith, Mr.. Williams
put art touches to the court cards as
described.
Once he stopped to listen, but seemed
satisfied that no intrusion was threaten
ing and resumed his labors. Had Mr..
Williams used his eyes as sharply as
his ears, he might not have chuckled so
Serenely, for the powerful kerosene ray
which was projected through the key
hole of the door was reflected back in a
curious manner.
This phenomenon, had Mr.. Williams
Investigated it, would have been eX-
posed as the result of the application of
the janitor's eye to that Orifice. By
means of this stealthy proceeding he
was enabled to see exactly what MI.
Williams was doing and report the same
galoches made his ascent by the stairs
almost noiseless, and who appeared on
the scene in time to see Mr.. Williams
dot the last jack and hear him make the
threat recorded above.
After relieving the janitor at the key
hole moment, Rev. Mr.. Smith tiptoed
into that officials room, where the
poodle was still whining under the bed,
and brief conversation in whispers
ensued. A moment later the janitOr
strobe heavily across the hall and
knocked at the door of the club room.
Mr.. Williams opened the door with a
yawn.
"Clar' to goodness, I done jess felled
ter Sleep" he said, "'n doan't speck
I'll play no solitary ter night, 'ceptin'
wifi a glasser beer, IN I'll go out N histe
in one"
"Yezzah," said the janitor.
"Yar am de pack" said Mr.. Williams,
"'n 70 see de papah's on 1t same ez
befo'"
"Yezzah."
"Dey'll call fer new pack wen de
squealer; N den yo' bring i'll dis var
pack"
"Yezzah."
"rm goin' out ter woke myself up
wifi a beer, but doan' tole de boys dat
Pve been var"
"Nozah'"
"Funny bout dat daivy rollin' down
steps. Speck he done heer cat" said
M. Williams, affably, as he left.
"YeZzah."
A minute later Mr.. Williams was
gone. Two minutes later, at the same
table,by the same lamp, sat Rev. Thank
full Smith, running over the pack with
his practiced eye. Hard by stood the
janitor, ObsequiOusly ready to bring the
great man anything he wanted. from a
growler of beer to fire eXtinguisher:
"Dis am fine pack" soliloquized the
reverend gentleman, 'but it pears ter
me dat de flies hez been monkeyin' wifi
de big kyards. Hez yo' got a razzer?''
he inquired of the janitor.
"Yezzah," was the respectful re-
spouse.
"Brung me de raZZer, n brung ME Gle
penn de ink" said Rev. Smith.
The janitor brought the articles re-
quired. Rev. Smith was plunged in
profound thought moment. Then
with admirable delicacy and the razor
he scraped three dots from the back of
each ace and added three to the back OF
each jack. The aces now had one dot,
the kings three, the queens two, and
the Jacks four, which was but slight
variation from MI. Williams method of
decoration. Rev. Smith then carefully
replaced the pack in its original paper
and returned it to the janitor, to whom
he said:
gwen Tooter arsts fer desnew pack,
fotch her in. Wen de ham am dOled,
touch off dat MESSENGER buZzbox IN yo'
room IN call de perlice IN de llyoroner,
IN yo'll see de biggest middle-weight
scrap oh de sseason.,' .
One hour later the game was in full
blast. Rev. Thankful Smith presided,
assisted as usual by Elder Jubilee An
derson, Cyanide Whites, Prof. Brick
andG johnson. AT $3.50 precisely the
door opened and MIR. Tooter Williams
blew gaily in.
"Ah, there, gentlemen!" he ex-
claimed. keep her bilin'. Gimme
tree stacks--dar's de boodle-what's de
limmick--I'ze jess ken from Hoboken