Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1893-02-03

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 a 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 n 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 il seemed to need the gospel
ond you bet it did So we talked on,
getting pretty well acquainted. After
awhile Harrigan and Bascomb strode
in, and introduced them 70 the young
parson. He told them all about his
projects and we had a 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, l 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 l 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.
See here says !. you've got a
little touch of the cold, and your liver
is out of order. and your appetite Is
poor, and you've got coat on your
tongue That's what ails this town.
says I. Now, you come back to the
hotel and I'll fix you up dose that
will change the whole complexion OF
things in no time, says !.
"We 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
baby and said it seemed rather strong.
- You bet it's strong, said l. 1t viii
Just yank them blues out OF you in
short order
Il didn't know how much the fellow
could stand, so | 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 | Judge were just about as old as
the Christian era
while all this was going on Bascomt
and Harrigan had drifted in and begar
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. 1t 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 fel'
low bit easy. He remarked that lie
used to be very fond of whist in his
early days, and 'twan't 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 a long story short, we
got to playing penny ante, and had
real amusing time for awhile, things
running pretty even, little in the par
sons favor, perhaps. About that time
/ gave him another installment of liver
re medy, and the boys likewise took
some. He began to feel real happy,
sort of q 'cherry-rcd.' so to speak.
Then funny thing occurred The
boys got up Jackpot with about fifty
cents in it. After a bit Harrigan
opened with four chips, Bascomb and
Willis stood, each drawing three
cards Harrigan kind of smiled and
bet n dollars worth, Bascomb saw him.
but the parson showed in his whole
| pile, to the tune of five dollars / threw
up, but Harrigan and Bascomb called
| him. -Four tens said the parson.
| It's your money says Bascomb auc
Harrigan, each throwing down n full
] ha.3d. Ther. we started in for all it was
worth. Twenty-Five cent ante and the
roof for limit.
by this time the young fellow had
| just about five drinks, liberal drinks,
| of good old corn whisky, and was
| eamey as bronco. He pulled out his
pockctboolz and showed mp credentials
to the extent of over a thousand dol
| lars, and, as the rest of us were pretty
well heelcd, we started the game. My,
but that was tremendous game, and
the odd thing about it was that the little
| parson kept winning. He had rs all
broke before long. Then we bought n
lot more chips and went at it again.
We were not uneasy, for we calculated
| to rake in the whole shooting match
before long. After we had been play
ing with varying luck for an hour or
two | got a beautiful hand -Four
queens and a king. Only one thing
could beat it, four aces. | gently
showed in about fifty dollars worth.
Bascomb raised me another fifty. The
parson another, and Harrigan went
| hundred better. | put in five, Bascomb
| the same, and the parson, after looking
at his hand for a minute. showed in
| stack after stack of his chips, and then
put five hundred dollar bill on top OF
! that. Harrigan Dor rowed n wad from
Bascomb, leaving him broke, and II
took my last dollar to call him. felt
sorry for the young chap, but 1t had to
be done. Then we showed up. Harri-
gan held four jacks, the four queens,
and Willits-well, he had four aces.
That finished the game, and three mors
disguised men you never saw. How
ever, we put "a good face on it, and,
after arranging a set-to for the next
evening, we parted ut the very early
hour of three in the morning.
Next day | met Harrigan. 'S'pose
we look up the parson,' says he.
a." All right. Well have to work him
tonight It's no use trying to play
square game with these parsons, says
/. So we dropped around to the hotel
to look for Willis.
Willits?' says the clerk; why, he
has gone
" Gomez
A" That's what. Left on the carly
stage
II looked at Harrigan and lac looked
at me.
Here is letter he left for you,
colonel, says the clerk.
"Bascomb had come in while we were
talking, and upon hearing the news be-
gan to swear fuently open yer let
ter and let's see what yer gosh blanSed
preacher has to say
II opened the letter and in il was n
five hundred-dollar bill and a note:
DEAR COLONEL; / luciose herewith q bill
for five hundred, with which you had better see
what you can do about building that church
You may know more OF such matters than you
Go OF poker. Harrlgan might preach for you
and BascomD could pass the plate They do
not seem TO be good FOR much else Next time