St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-02-27
A GAMBLING GHOST.

i ADO0EuIu0D
| who Played Whist.
| This story told by young medico,
and we all know that medical students
are of . peculiarly reserved. reticent
and sober race. averse to exaggeration
and remarkable for tho veracity Of
their anccdotea He who told the fol-
lowing astonishing experience said that
it took place at St Bartholomew, or
perhaps 1t was Guys or St. Thomas:
The essential thing ID that Il took place
at q hospital.
It was evening, and not late One Of
the resident house physicians-ay young
man. with a friend. also young med
ical man. whose evidence can be pro-
cured to corroborate the story-was
playing double dummy, with an &C
compartment of tobacco and whisky
and water. They had been playing
some time, nothing unusual happening.
They were seated at . square table.
One of them. ut the beginning of new
game, had to deal with his own dunn.
my, as is the rule at double dummy.
When he had finished most wonderful
thing happened. The cards Of the tw,
dummies were taken up by invisible
hands, which arranged them and held
them in the usual fanlike form. 1t was
as II the cards were in the air.
The two men looked 1t each other
and at this phenomenon with stupefac-
ton. II they had not been men Of
science they would have ned shrieking.
Then the dummies hands were sharp
IL ranv,ed m the tah1a
THAT means play" whispered one of
them, and, with gasp, he led.
The play of the invisible dummies
was all right The leading partner
took the trick and returned, changing
the suit to show the hand she held. /
say she, because by this time there were
visible the hands and arms that held
the cards, but nothing more. One Of
the players was q woman with bare
arms showing from . sleeve of white
lace; her fingers had rings ON them.
nary coat sleeve and white cuff.
The men put down their pipes ard
removed the whisky and water to an
other table. They played the game in
solemn silence. Presently it became
apparent that the woman played .
mastery game. She held good cards;
so did her partner. They scored In the
first rub-double treble and the rub.
and in the sccond-treble, single and
the rub.
''Never," my narrator told me, did
play with finer player. She seemed
to know BY instinct where every card
in the pack was At the end Of the
double rubber the arms disappeared.
They went away Is they came. have
never seen them since, though often
invited them to come by dealings he
cards ON the table. I have often won
dered who the lady WAS; young, n
gathered from the appearance Of her
arms; gentlewoman. as was shown by
the taper fingers and the rings and the
lace and o certain way OF carrying her
arms. Frolicsome. as she proved by
her sitting down to play with only her |
arm visible; unmarried, from the ab-
sence Of . wedding ring.
"Who could she be? Why WAS she
brought to the hospital? What is her
story? Why did she die 20 young?
Above all, how could she, at her early
age, have acquired such . knowledge |
Of whist? 1t is very rare to find . girl |
playing whist even decently. Perhaps
after leaving the hospital" he added, |
with some delicacy OF experience, ''she
may have found opportunities for prac-
lice. As for her companion, he was
uninteresting. He had
chalked stones ON his fingers, and he
was only q mediocre player. He neg.
lected his partners lead, he bottled her
trumpA and once he threw away the
king of trumps, not even trying to save
L by an obvious finesse. But the lady
the lady-she, indeed, was divine!-
Times