Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1891-02-10
The Deacon's Straight Flush

Deacon J1hUsou Dad es5 In 1ard iucS g. !
the evening. Osos he had a;ood "pe" on
.'oustad fush," but Rnbe Davis On the O. :
posite side Of ths table, bad seen his raise
and gone hin 40 dollars" better. TIE
Deacon, after throwing down his CARDS In
deguss had made toe painful discaverg that
Rube, too, had held sc fush," as he hrd
expressed it, inferior in value TO bi. owp. {.
Chs Deacon bad wisely concluded hat
'"twarnt no use to buck aeiD dis hyar game.
no how" HoWecer he held on, deter
rnieed upon one final effort to recoup bis
losses.
He was indeed playing 10 hard luck. He
had come into t1e game with $40 in cseh,
which he had dropped during the first half
hour. Mr. Davis was already eyeing the
Deacon'S new winter overcoat, which hsd
heen pI resented to that official by sn sdmif-
ing constituency, and upon which Mr.. Davis
h. Id 6cs, isn to tbs extent Of 81 30
Pete Whif1.s had about held his own.
'Ras.us Jenkins and Cy Dodson were new at
the game, but as they hed played sueir cards
"coss to their umm!cks," as Mr.. Davis
bad observed. they we're but small losers.
The Deacon, then. was the heavy loser, and
against Mr. Davis. who held most Of the Sc
ourities iu the wsy of cash and chips and
suudry personal .ff7cts, he bent sli his er-
ergies for the Hual rally.
Toe Daacor's chsnoe came when the last
Jack pot was dealt. he bed four dam lude
aud looked hopeful aud happy. Mr.. Davis
opened the pct on two pairs. The rest stay
sd 10. and the Deacon, remRrking that he
5sd "been playing ski.tles long enough"
raised Mr. Davis Sc "ies TO- fuu," he said.
At this ell dropped out except Mr.. Davis,
who said he'd stay 10 jes 20 soshabiIi'y."
Then cana the draw.
Mr. Davis drew another, king giving him
"king full" he looked happy and corfi.
dent The Deacon could hardly repress an
exu tant smile as another diamond fell TO
Dis lot.
well, R1be.n observed the deacon, "yo'
pears mighty soshsb.; what yer gon' 10
do?'
"Guess III hist her fo' dollah's wuf,"
replied Mr.. Davis care!essly.
Now see hyar," remarked the deacon
with emphasis, "we'se been buckin agin each
other all night, so jss to end things right
hyar raiso you twenty dolahs,"
This necessitsted a saoond mortgage noon
the overcoat and further liens upon the Daa-
non's silver enuffbox and gold trimmed spec
| taoles
WELL" remarked Mr.. Davis, after con-
siderable delibereton, II wouldn't like to
see the Deacon leave these byar rooms with
outIno clo'es on. SO I-well, iss calls"
With this he laid his king full upon the
table with an air of triumph.
mo good" said the Deacon, laying his
cnrds down one by one "Hsars a straight
fask. Ace, king, queen, jack an an' (then
came an ominous pause) TO- de Lohd's sake,
gentlemen, Tss made mistake !" And then
the Deacon sank into his seat as If sudden
ly seized with paralysis.
The last card was sn eight spot, which
the Deacon 10 his nervous excitement had
mistaken for ten.
"Doan wan ter be too hard en- the Dea-
CON-" observed Mr.. Davis as he put on the
formers overcoat preparatory to leaving,
80 I'll jes' leave him his glssses." The
company then dispersed.
From the pulpit on the following Sunday
the Rev. Careful Smith announced that "as
Brother johnson had imprudently gone out
on Friday evening without his overcoet, he
had contracted a eevere cold in bis lungs
wbich prevented his attendance, an' would
Brother Ruben Davis be kind enough to
pass The plate in hia stead
Brother Davis after carefully removing
the Dsacon's overcoat and hiding 1t under
the seat, cbeerfuiIy asssnted to the task
thns inposed uDon him.