Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-08-13
THeRgs A MoRAL IN his.
II Is a story OF Real Life, and shows
Why the Drummer "SWorc on"

Why the Drummer "SWorc on"
"No, said the old drummer. fierce
~, according to the Detroit Free Press,
Il play no games of chance any more,
not even the simplest kind for money"
wont You pitch penuies2' persisted
his companion.
"Thot least Of ALL he said, visibly
affected
"Why note" asked the other.
do YOU see this iollar2' he said,
taking cart-wheel from his pocket.
We'll, thereby hangs a tale. Li,tenl
Ten years ago ! was, and had been for
i've years, travelling for a big diamond.
importing house In New York. and as
usual ( carried with me q large NUM-
Der ot gems often having as much as
$4,000 worth one day four az us all
In the same line met in Denver, and
that evening we were drinking and
matching dollars In my room IL was
a hobby ot mjuo, as IL was one of the
other mon, Frank II . who was as
iuyeterafe a hatcher as ever the late
John L. Raymond was. Wen. we
drank AVID matched, aud kept at it uu-
I'll we began to toss up at 50 a toss,
and the other two soon backed out aud
watched AS ] guess wo were both
pretty drunk, for before | knew il, we
had made "a put of a hundred dollars
and WeUe tossing best two in three for
il. lost, aud lost again, aud then.
having no moro money, / put up
diamond against his pile lost that,
too, and then put mp two against his
money aud what had been my dia-
mond and that time | won. | think
we were both halt-craay now, for Frank
pulled out one of the pockotbooks from
the inside of his vest and laid it open
on the table and asked me angrily IL
/ dared to match it, OF course |
dar and ! dared more. ! put down
beside IL all mine, valued no 10000,
and he empticl his other vest pocket to
an equal amount Our two friends
tried TO stop u.s. bat we were wild aud
would listen Go nothing Frank threw
first and / called tails, 1t came
heads. 1t made me shiver Then
threw heads and he called tails, and
we were oven. don't know how
felt as he picked mp the dollar, and |
looked no those gljttoring gems, for |
don't know anything clearly though |
had a vague idea that somebody would
be ruined for ever on the next throw.
Frank tossed the dollar to the ceiling
and called heads IT. struck The
floor and rolled over toward the regjs-
ter. An four of us made a ru-a tar H..
and Frank fell headloug, The do,'oe
had dropped through the grating amt
and was lying on the closed shutters Of
the register just below
"'Gst match ] almost shriekcd.
81 stepped back and my foot sruol
Frank llo did not move. ! bent
down and shook him. He WAS suiil. /
tried to cry out, but could not. The
other two men caught hold Of him
then and turned mm over HIS face
was blue and the blood was gusbjug
from his mouth. He had Died IN au
instant. Tho three were sohu men lbs
a second, and atoucc aiarmod the lGud-
lord and sent for q physician, but he
might as we'll not have come lie
told as death had been instantaneous.
/ put my diamonds ia my pocket and
took care of Franks; and the balance
of the stakes ] divided, taking what !
had put up and setting his aside and
the next morning We started home
with poor Franks body
How about the dollar In the regis
ter4' asked the listener. "Who wonp"
"Oh, said the old drummer with a
start, q almost forgot shat part Of it.
never thought Of that dollar till just
before we left, aud going back | hshod
il out aud put il Ia my pocket, aud
this is it. 1t was heads"
"No wonder you don't gamble any
more" exclaimed the listener witt a
sigh of relief Lets go and take
drink as a forgotten
"And ! don't drink any more either"
said the Old drummer quietly.