The Meeker herald., 1888-04-14
A Gs..s,y Poker Came.

\ Macon, Mo, letter to the Globe
Democrat says: Ii. +. Strong, Of thi.
county. wis in town the other day I,
see about filing n claim against the
Hannibal xnd St Joseph Railroad
| coinpany for damages caused by the xii
ling OF some stock belonging 10 him
At one time IN his early nAniiooi
Frank, M he is popularly called. ~as |
great lover Of the national game o
poker, and whiis here he related
wonderful story OF u game In which h
once participated. Twelve years ago
while dealing extensively In cattle
J Frank made trip In Avon, Illinois
ani there sought lodging n, the old
! Revere house. nov burned. II was late
{ In the evening when lie arriyc,l. and NC
c0mmois,ions were limited. The land.
lord informed him that there Mis- but
one vacant room. and this MAS u
deserted one. believed by those familiar
with the place 10 bc haunted. II this
would suit, cot could ls fixed up for
the guest. This being III, only chance,
Strong accepted the situation. aud IN
I'll. bare room. destitute ot furniture, u
mattress and blankets were provided.
While these arrangements were trinR
mad. the host explained that some wears
befors Two men had sought loigibR III
the house. AMI occur,r,i this room. IL
the middle Of the night u pis;ol'sho,
wis heard. Rnd those who rushed Ia the
spot had discovered one -! the t~o CON.
plnions-n-ithcr of who's. names MAE
ever known lying dead IN III. hdor
with - bullet in iis heart. The mnr'
dcfcr hal escaped by the window. The
cause Of tho trouble WAS explained by u
pack OF cards lying scattered on the
io1r. together with SON. loose coin
they hal been playing. \ quarrel In.
tween two gamblers over their game
hal resulted In tragedy. Since then
the ghnst Of the murdered man. sour.
i,mcs in company with other sIpoks.
WAS said To nightly visit the room.
Nothing daun,~d by the tale. Strong
blew out his light and retired. Some
time during the nigh, lie nwokr and
saw t~o .hoe,iy forms seated on Tie
l noot p,ay,nR cards hy tho pale moon
light which strcamcd through The win
dow. For u few moments lie watches
them. then his delight In tho game b-
ing played o,cfcamr all other consider
aiions. ana he jumr-d ur from his mat
: ucSs and asked II he i4ht have y hand
Not n word WAS spoken by the two
figures In white. but one of then,
silently dealt n hand To the s,nckman
~li" had audaciousiy cuflcd himself NJ
on the iloor between the shosily game
st.rs. having not even waited TO drcS'
time the ante WAS low. 10th pal,
l spirits appeared well supplied viii
money. In bills and silver. without The
exchange Of word IN. game pro
grcSsrsi. Finally Strong laid down n,
his ante ivc-dollar bill. All drew
and StronI's bet Of 50 WAS raised b,
each until $50 lay on the hopr. On q
hand Of four tens Strong won. Neither
Of the mysterious individuals was q
scientific player, and In the course Of 4
few hands ;he lone mortal managed tc
run In several succcssfuI bluffs.
For two hours the game progressed
when at the growing OF q baryard fow
both the whitc-robed IrrsonaHcs aross
startled and sadly withdrew. The man.
ncr Of their rgrcss from tho apartment
Strong declares, is vet n mystery, ~ nc
aperture larger than the keyhole eX.
istcd. Strong took pull OF brandy &c
quiet his nerves. and counted over hi,
winnings, which slightly exceeded 5000
Then. looking carefully tn his revolver
he placed the money under his pillow
and again retired. sleeping sound,
until awakened By the landlords rap
. To the la;tcr's inquiry whether he had
been disturbed by spirits, he replied
that nothing unusual had happened.
This occurrence, Frank said in con
clusion. he regarded as u warning tha,
discmbciied spirits ought never u
tackle an ablebodied stockdealer In .
game OF poker. As 10 the cenuincncs,
of the money he had won. all doubt wa
dispcled when on his reaching st. Loui,
1t served to purchase week Of full
blown enjoyment.
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