The Red Cloud chief., 1892-10-07
band O. Professional gamblers tibet he'd
sAttlnI ,..A,., s..s

gambler Is about as desperate n ~critter
as ever held down n claim on this ere
earth.
Well. our camp come in fur its share
o. this calamity. fur one o. them coyotes
settled right down amongst us an COM
mcnced operations. lie was "a remark
ably slick loolsin' chap, more gentle.
manlikc then the most of his class;
there wasn't tibet flash o. gold an Jew
els about him that allus makes n decent
man tired; though he did wear one big
diamond ring on his little finger tibet
looked like the real stuff an ] reckon 1t
was. He called hisself Jack Custer,
and he had been amongst us only a few
days when We learned somethin' about
him that was very funny fur u perfcs-
sional gambler; he didn't cheat. No.
sir, he played rs far as u parson an
took his losses with his gains. But I
will say this fur him tibet although he
didn't cheat, he won u good deal more
n he lost, an when in the course o.
time men began to see il they kinder
dropped off an let him alone. His bust.
ness growcd small an waverin' like.
The men tibet did play with him didn't
play regular with one cxccption-or 81
Rogers. He was as regular as mcaltime;
never failed. Custer seen he he'd "a vic
tim, an he linowed Jest how to work
him. Every night mt seven o'clock
they'd sit down to play in the little
room o. the tavern which was kept fur
tibet purpose an Rogers 'ud never move
from the table until he got up to stink
| homo fhrnnnh thA ,Io,lxrus ,,.tl. ii.
bloodshot eyes, throbbin' temples an
with not n cen in his pocket. hut
sometimes he would win, and then he
went on like II crazy man; he would be
so happy that he'd drink an treat all
his winnin's away before he left.
Things was gcttin' purity low at his
house; they was almost in need. But
through 1t all Sue never blamed nor
scoldcd him.
TRY an come home without stoppin',
father she used to say. An he'd go
off in tho mornin' promisin' faithfully
ito do it," But his road home run
right past the tavern an he Jest he'd to
stop in fur a minute. an tibet minute
'ud stretch ont to nigh next mornin'.
Nobody interfcrcd, cause il wasn't no
body's business.
One night the OF man failed TO show
up at the usual time; half-past seven
come; eight; half-past eight. Eyes I've.
gan to turn in Clusters direction an he
seemed kinder Uneasy. But jest five
minutes before the clock struck nine
oil 81 Rogers shuiIiin' step was heard
in the entry. II sounded u little quick
er'n usual. Custer frightened up all of
a sudden rs he beard it an took n step
toward their table. But the minute
the oil man struck the room everybody
could see tibet somethin' was wrong.
His face was haggard an pale an there
was u skecred look in his eyes.
Boys" says he, in husky voice, sis
there n of you thetll lend a Teller n
little cash imam c~mergency?" The men
looked up qucstionin'ly from their
cards. sues down Sick" he went on,
IAN I'm clear out O money"
Every hand went down into it's own.
er's pocket, an silver, gold AN bills
come up, but Jack Custer was before
MS all. lie was at the oil mans side in
about three shakes. and, prcssin' a roll
o money into his hand, he said:" think
I've got a right to help YOU" The rest
wanted to chip in, but Rogers said he
he'd enough, and we could only hold
him long enough fur him to tell us part
o. the story. One o. Mike Jasper's kids
met him on his way from work to tell
him that Sue was sick; hurryin' home, he
found her ragin' with fever. Some o.
tho ncighbor women was a workin'
with her, but he wouldn't leave her
side until he was jest compelled to 20
fur q doctor. Thet was why he dropped
in there; 'caus rs the doctor would hey
to come some distance, he might
want to see the color Of his cash before
startin'.
lie left as soon as he told us tibet.
turriblc worked up; an. in fact, he left
MS purity much excited, not KNOWN
how bad sick Sue was.
But 1t turned out, AFTER all, tibet IL
wasn't nothin' serious, jest a light
spell. But tell you oil man Rogers
was skeered purity bad. lie straight
ened up an didn't gamble fur a week,
an fur a time folks begun to think tibet
he he'd really reformed. So did Custer;
an he packed up his. things to leave.
lie was standin' at the door one day
when Sue passed, an he asked who she
was. When he found it was Rogers
darter Sue, he whistlcd long an low.
He took n good look ut her when she
come back thet way. Thet evcnin' re
unpacked his traps an settled himself
to stay. Tho boys winked their ewes
an whispered to each other tibet "Cus-
ter was goin' to play fur higher stakes,
but 'twasn't no use, fur the cards was
stacked agin him dead sure" Custer
jest went right on maxim no secret of
his intentions, but workin' far an
squar'. lie began to try and draw Sues
attention, an everybody looked on in
interest.
Jem Mace only laughed very quiet.
He rcckoned he'd fixed them cards him
self an knowed jest what chance the
gambler stood fur DRAWN a flush.
OF 81 Rogers, arter his weeks spell
o. goodness, come back to his table as
eager as ever IN jest about as on
lucky. Thet is, at first; later on he be-
gan to sorter win.
Clusters luck has changed" some
Ona yhiCNoraA Al a . |