St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-11-24
THE GAMBLERS.
Detroit Fress Press.

town. The Northern Pacific railroad
had just been built into the place and
civilization had not yet had time to
drive the rOwdy clement into the say
age haunts of isolated mining districts.
1t was in those days the people first
spoke the name of their city with no.
ticeable accent on the first syllable.
Habit became second nature and the
custom still endures.
remember walking along business
thOrOughfare in the evening with the
sounds of bOiSterOuS voices. blinking
glasses and repulSive OathS OIL every
hand. Ientered gambling den, its
broad doors were wide open and the
great electric arc-light invited me to
a study of the crowded room. Noise,
noise, noise; rafting chips; a snip,
snip, snip as the imperturable faro
dealer dealt his cards: laughter, sallieS
of wit. shrill profanity and now or
then sigh or grOan. Ii he has the
moral courage to face scene like this,
the student of human nature can read
more character over green cloth in
half an hour than in any other place in
week.
watched a game of draw poker. Till
the day of my death / will never forget
it. The players were three i'll number.
AT the right hand side sat a man whose
tout ensemble bespoi g the william. He
wore black slOuche.t hat, which was
drawn low down over his eyes, with the
brim bent SO as to shade them from the
gaze of the other two. Not a move
ment, not the turn of card escaped
him. At every stage of the game he
had figured out his exact chances; he
knew precisely what to do at any given
time. He played for gain. He was
constantly on the lookout for treachery.
He was silent. He had the devil in his
heart. He was gambler by profession.
At his right was young man with
face flushed with liquor. His counte-
nance reflected his feelings. His eyes
were mirrors, and in them the gambler
at his left saw every hand be played.
The youth talked much, boosted occa-
sionally, and sneered often. Neverthe-
less, he lost and lost heavily.
The remaining player was middle
aged man, swarthy of feature. and
rough of dress. He wore a flannel shirt,
and held his cards with two great,
rough hands that knew toll with pick
and shovel. He played recklessly
and, like all reckless PLAYERS, his luck
was wonderful. He watched only his
own hand; he smiled good naturedly at
the voluble and .iauor-heated youth, for
he was winning and winner generally
smiles. The gambler and the youth lost
steadily to theJminer, the first because
his cards were poor, the latter because
his face was an index of his cards, good
or bad, an index which the MINER,
though attending strictly to his own
play, could not help noticing.
When superior skill is united with q
villainouS nature, fraud will result if
skill and nature come under the ban of
fortune. So. time after time, the gam
bier captured pile after pile of varie-
gated chips, but always on his own
deal. When his companions dealt he
rarely played. The miner grew suspi-
cous, ana cast furtiye glances al the
man in the SlOuched hat. The youth
other two paid no attention to his
words.
At last there was Jackpot" The
youth dealt and every one passed. The
miner dealt with like result; but when
the gambler dealt he "opened." To do
this he was obliged to have pair of
jacks or better. The miner had watched
him deal much as cat watches mouse.
l saw in the miners eyes CLEAN so de-
termined. so reckless. that involuntar-
lily started. He played calmly. Cards were
drawn and bets made. The miner
wagered his last chip. The youth, with
and the gambler drew out of his pocket
some shining gold pieces. He place d
them on the pile of chips. The minor
took large, ugly-lOoking six-shoorer
from his pocket and put it on the table.
then he laid down an equal amount of
gold and demanded to see his oppO-
nent's hand.
Three kings and two aces!
"A full house," said the gambler,
calmly. He reached out his hand to
take the money.
.'No you DON'T" cried the miner; "see
this hand!"
He laid his five cards face upward be-
fore the players. He had not even a
pair. The gambler smiled contemptu-
ouSly and made another movement to
take the money.
"Waitl You've seen that hand, now
look at this one!"
His revolver was pointed full at the
gamblers breast, and his eye cleaned
along the barrel. The gambler never
WINGED. He awaited in apparent cons
formation for second.
Boys said the miner. appealing to
the bystanders, "he took them kings
from the bottom of the pack. an he
OtippSO llic cut UctOlC uGdliu
Sping! Sping!
Quick as flash the gambler had
drawn weapon and shot his opponent,
killing him on the spot.
L was daZed and can remember moth
ing more. but as left the hall amid the
confusion 4hat followed, l recall these
words, spoken by some one beside me:
Joe Henderson. Good 'Duif Teller,
but l allus lowed he'd die with his
) boots on. Can't stick to gamblin' an
live nohow!"