The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1893-02-25

opened with four chips, Bascomb and
Willis stood, each drawing Three
cards. Harrigan kind Of smiled and
bet dollars worth, Bascomb saw him,
but the parson showed in his whole
pile, to the tune of five dollars. / threw
up, but Harrigan and Bascom b called
him. -Four tens said the parson.
It's your money! says Bascomb and
Harrigan, each throwing down full
hand. Then 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
gamey as bronco. He pulled out his
pocketbook and showed up credentials
to the extent of over thousand dol
| lars, and. as the rest of us were pretty
well heeled, we started the game. My,
but that was n tremendous game, and
the odd thing about it was that the little
parson kept winning. He had us 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 l got beautiful hand. Four
| queens and king. only one thing
could beat II, four aces. gently
showed in about fifty dollars worth.
| Bascoinb raised me another fifty. The
parson another, and Harrigan went a
hundred better. put in five, Bascomb
the same, and the parson, after looking
at his hand for minute. showed in
! stack after stack of his chips, and then
| put Ave hundred dollar bill on top of
that Harrigan borrowed n wad from
Bascomb, leaving him broke, and it
took my last dollar to call him. felt
| sorry for the young chap. but it had to
| be done. Then I'VE showed up. Harri.
gan held four Jacks, the four queens,
| and Wiltits-we1l, he had four aces.
That finished the game, and three more
disguised men you never saw. How
ever, we put 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 Harrignn. 'S'pose
we look up the parson.' says he.
cali right. Well have to work him
tonight It's no use trying to play a
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
That's what Left on the early
stage
81 looked at Harrigan and he 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 fiuently. Open yer let.
ter and let's see what yer gosh blanked
preacher has to say
II opened the letter and in it was
Eve hundred-dollar bill and note,
"'DEAR COLONEL: rine,ose herewith biz
for I've hundred, with which you had better see
what you can DO about building that church.
You may know more OF such matters than you
do of poker. Hafrigan might preach fer you
and Bascomb could pass the plate They dc
not seem to be good for much else. Next time
you lay out TO skin a preacher do not tackle
Yours,
FRANK WEBB, ALIAS REV. JEREMIAH WI
Its
Frank Webb yelled Harrigan
What precious lot of fools we are
For you must know, gentle men, that
Frank Webb was VIGOROUSLY the most
accomplished gambler from the MIS-
sissippi to the Pacific, and that he was
famed for just such little tricks as he
played on us.
''Wc kept mighty mum about tine cir
cumstauccs, but held secret session
and concluded TO put that five hundred
in a church. We got the boys about
town Interested in it, and, within q
year, we had one of the prettiest edi,
fees erected in the west. We three
were elected as a committee to secure
pastor, and we called Rev. William
Allyn, young man just of the sort |
was telling You about. For eighteen
years he labored in this place, and be-
came universally beloved. Under his
care things prospered The old mining
camp changed its nature. The dives,
gambling houses and saloons passed
away in few years, and, perhaps, the
biggest thing the young man did was
to convert the old colonel. Yes, tough
as he is, boys, the old man never
touched cards or drank a drop after that
night. He was reformed man. Bas-
comb and Harrigan became shining
lights and not many years ago passed
away in an odor of sanctity. / guess