Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1892-06-24
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"No," said the old drummer f1ercely,
II play no games Of chance any more,
not even the simplest kind, for
money"
Won't you pitch pcnnics:" per-
sisted his companion.
THAT least Of ALL" he said, visibly
affected.
"Why not'" asked the other.
"Do YOU see this dollar" he said,
taking a cart wheel from his pocket.
"Well, thereby hangs a tale. Listen:
Ten years ago 1 was, and had been for
five years, travelling for a big dia-
moDd importing house in New York,
and as usual I carried with me q
large number OF gems, often having
as much as $50, 900 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 a hobby OF mine, a. it
was n OF the other men. Frank
Il, who "a as inyeterate q
hatcher as ever the late John T.
Raymond was Well, we drank and
matched, and kept at 1t until we be-
gan to toss up at IS a toss, and the
other two soon backed out and
watched us. / guess we were both
pretty drunk, for before l knew 1t we
had made a pot of 800 and were toss
ing best two in three for 1t. 1 lost,
aud lost again, and then, having no
more money, l put up a diamond
against his pile. l lost that, too,
and then put up two against his
money and what had been my dia-
mond, and that time l won. l think
we were both half crazy now, for
Frank pulled out of the pocket
books from the inside of his vest and
laid it open on the table and asked
me angrily If | dared to match 1t.
or course | dared, and l dared more,
/ put down beside it all mine, valued
IL 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 l called tails 1t came
heads 1t made ME shiver. Then
l threw heads and he called tails
and we were even. don't know how
l felt as he picked up the dollar, and
] looked at those glittering gems, for
l don't know anything clearly, though
l had a vague idea that somebody
would be ruined forever on the next
throw. Frank tossed the dollar to
the ceiling and l called heads 1t
struck the floor and rolled over toward
the register. All four Of us made a
rush for 1t and Frank fell headlong.
The dollar had dropped through the
grating and was lying on the closed
shutters Of the register, just below.
Get a match" / almost shrieked.
I stepped back and my foot struck
Frank. He did not move. l bent
down and shook him. He was sttll.
l tried to cry out but could not. The
other two men caught hold OF him
then and turned him over. His face
was blue and the blood was gushing
from his mouth. He had died in an In.
slant. The three were sober men in
a second and at once alarmed the
landlord and sent for a physician, but
he might as we'll not have come. He
told us death had been instantaneous.
/ put my diamonds back into my
pockets and took care of Franks: and
the balance Of the stakes / divided,
taking what l had put up and set
ting his aside, and the next morning
we started home with poor Franks
body"
"How about the dollar in the
register" asked the listener. "Who
wOn?"
"Oh," said the old drummer with
a start, II almost forgot that part of
it. / never thought of that dollar
till just before we left, and going
back | fished it out and put it in my
pocket and this is it. 1t was
heads"
mo wonder you don't gamble n
MORE" exclaimed the listener with a
sigh of relief. "Let's go and take a
drink as a forgotten"
"And l don't drink any more,
either" said the old drummer quietly.
Detroit Free Press.