St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1892-06-09
WHYTHE DRUMMER sWoRE OFF.

WHY THE DRUMMER WORE OFF.
NO said the old drummer fierce
ly, Il play no games of chance any
more, not even the simplest kind, for
money"
Wont you pitch pennies ?" persist
ed his companion
THE least OF all, ;" he remarked visi-
bly, affected.
why not?" asked the other.
do you see this dollar?" he, said
taking a cart wheel from his pocket
We'll, thereby hangs tale. Listen!
Ten years ago l was, and had been
for five years, travelling for a big
d1amOnd-importing house in New
York, and as usual 1 carried with me
large number of gems, often having
as much as $4,000 worth. One
day four of US all in the same line
met in Denver, and that evening we
were drinking and matching dollars
IN my room. 1t was hobby of
mine, asst was one of the other men,
Frank H, who was as inveterate a
hatcher as ever the late John T. Ray
mOnd was. Well, we drank and
matched, and kept at it until we be-
gan to toss up at So toss, and the
other two soon backed out and
watched us. [ guess we were both
pretty drunk, for before knew it, we
had made pot of two hundred
dollars, and were tossing best two
in three for it, lost, and lost again,
and then having no more money,
put up a diamond against his pile.
| lost that too, and then put ZIP two
1Cf i
been my diamond, and that time
won. [ think we were both half
crazy now, for Frank pulled out one
y OF his pocketbooks from the inside of
his vest and laid it open on the table
land asked me angrily if dared to
match it. Of course dared, and 1
dared more. 1 put down beside it
all mine, valued at wholesale rates
at $50, 600, and he .emptied his other
vest pocket to an equal amount
Our two friends tried to stop US, but
we were wild and would listen to
nothing. Frank threw first and | |
called tails 1t came heads. 1t |
made me shiver, Then l threw,
s'heads' and he called tails and we |
were even. l don't know how 1 felt |
as he picked up the dollar, and | |
cooked at those glittering gems, for
4 don't know anything clearly, |
Enough [ had vague idea that
Somebody would be ruined forever on
the next throw. Frank tossed the
dollar to the ceiling and l called
heads. [ struck the floor and rolled
lover towards the register All four
Ipf us made a rush for it, and Frank
fell headlong. The dollar had
dropped through the grating and
svas lying on the closed shutters of
4he register below.
Fl Get match, almost shrieked.
FL Il stepped back and my foot struck
against Frank. He did not move.
H bent down and shook him. He was
|still. Itried to cry out, but could not
The other two men caught hold of
him then and turned him over. His
ace was blue and blood was gush-
ing from his mouth. He had died in
bn instant. The three were sober
men in second, and at once
alarmed the landlord and sent for
but he might as we'll not
have come. He told us death had
been instantaneous. l put my dia-
|nonds back into my pockets and
took care of Frank s; and the bal
|nce of the stakes l divided, taking
|That had put up and setting his
fslde, and the next morning we start
ID home with poor Franks body"
How about the dollar in the reg
yer :: asked the listener who =
on ?''
Oh, SAID the old drummer with
tart, almost forgot that part
fIt. l never thought of that dollar
Just before we left, and going
ack fished it out and put it in nv
%0cket, and this is it. 1t was {
#eads.
NO wonder you don't gamble any S
Ore" exclaimed the listener with 8