The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-12-22

by himself, looking sort of lonesome, so
l braced up to him, and, after few
commonplace remarks, told him my
name. He said his name was Willis.
Jeremiah Willis 1t didn't take much
work to pump him, as he turned out to
be pleasant, chatty fellow. When he
got started, he told me his plans and
hopes; how he had been sent out by the
missionary society to start church in
some promising western town. He had
chosen Almo. because it looked to him
as if the place was bound to grow and
because 1t seemed to need the gospel
ond you bet it did. So we talked on,
getting pretty well acquainted. After
awhile Harrigan and Bascomb strobe
in. and introduced them to the young
parson. He told them all about his
projects and we had very pleasant,
chatty time until late in the evening.
Next day Willis went around town
trying to scare upa few religiously-dis-
posed persons and he found them
mighty few and far between, can tell
you, and he came to supper looking
pretty blue. Things seemed to be get
ting ripe for our little enterprise, SO
after supper ! took him little walk
around the town. He unloaded himself
of his views about the terrible moral
degeneracy of the place, and | could
see that he was feeling down ON his
luck.
80 See here says l, you've got
little touch of the cold, and your liver
is out of order, and your appetite is
poor, and you've got a coat on your
tongue. That's what ails this town,
says l. Now, you come back to the
hotel and I'll fix you up a dose that
will change the whole complexion of
things in no time says l.
I'VE trotted back to the hotel and
took him up to my room and fixed him
a rip-snorting glas of whisky and
quinine. He took it as CRATE fully as a
baby and said it seemed rather strong.
"'You bet it's strong said /. 1t will
inst yank them blues out of you in
short order
II didn't know how much the fellow
could stand, so l sat down and kept on
talking for awhile, until see she be-
gan to work, then gave him another
dose, and in half an hour he was Just
meller and joyful, and got to telling
some pretty rocky old seminary yarns
that l judge were just about as old as
the Christian era
''While all this was going on Bascomb
and Harrigan had drifted in and began
to take part in the entertainment
told some tales of adventures in the
hills, and Harrigan got TO telling about
a wonderful game of whist which he
once played. Ii was such an interest
ing game that he went and got his
cards to illustrate the play he was tell
ing about. Bless you, that young fell
low bit easy. He remarked that he
used TO be very fond of whist in his
early days, and twant long before we
were enjoying ourselves immensely
with that innocent pastime. OF course
the boys got to telling about their
poker experiences between the deals,
and, finally, the young fellow said he
would really like to know how the
game was played.
Suppose we get out the chips and
go through the motions. so as the par
son can see how it's DONE says Bas-
comb.
well, to make long story short, we
got to playing penny ante, and had a
real amusing time for awhile, things
running pretty even, little in the par
sons favor, perhaps. About that time
l gave him another installment of liver
remedy, and the boys likewise took
some. He began to feel real happy, a
sort of a cherry-red,' so to speak.
Then a funny thing occurred. The
boys got up Jackpot with about fifty
cents in it After q bit Hartman