The morning call., 1893-10-16
KlNAVE OF HEARTS.


cussion- of psychological or physiological
phen omena in the recital of the following
incident, for the very excellent reason that
upon beth of these topics | am only super
felal4y Informed. 1t shall be my purpose,
however, to present a plain. unvarnshed
narrative of facts, and facts only, exactly
rs they occurred to me on the memorable
night in question. without exaggeration
and without any effort whatever at ex-
PLANTATION.
My father was an electrician. Not a
etheDEfst nor an experimenter. nor an in
ven tOrs but a plain electrical machinist,
who worked in the factory from day to
day in his blue checked oversuit. To be
.sufei through many seasons Of labor at his
post. he had risen considerably above a
great many Of his colabOrers, and his
keeR:me chanical ingenuity. coupled with
<hfs tinswerving integrity and loyalty
to. + his employers. had won for
him: prom OtiOns in choice of labor
as <well.as advance In pay, until our little
family was provided with its own house
*f0rt:aHd happiness. He was addicted to
books u p0A scientific themes, was educated
extremely we'll for one in his sphere of
Efe,E .and possessed an enormous fund of
practical knowledge, gathered piecemeal
:throHgh his studi0us career
%At-IiTe time of which | write my father
was. i'd .Ilis forty-siXth year. Physically. he
9fss peTtection itself. Il stood six feet in
fetg-lt:artd weghed $50 pounds. His hair
;v+as.: black and curly, his eyes dark and
spar King. with vitality and good nature.
% Up 4O4tIat time l had never seen him i'll,
ana hE4:e hsaId him say that he never ex-
perLeh ced one days sickness during his
III
due 10 his strictly moral and abStemiouS
mode; of life.
:. :. 1:haJigh the statement smacks somewhat
et:egotism. his children inherited certain
efEp@ fathers sterling qualities. [ was
rh @el1est; after me came q brother, and
II Iha!st:a:stster., h!sl: the idol of the household.
then in heT sixteenth year. | had just
reachEd' nay majority; had finished my
ktudie5 at. nineteen and had served two
XeaEs:1h the factory under my fathers ef-
flClen nt3tntDrsh1p, it having long been his
GfSiTa*to develop me into an expert cleo
.tffci&H. Ny inclination seemed to war
;Iant i In in making the selection for me,
and i was Ia pidly mastering my trade.
::cC)Ge aptumn evening my father CON-
TFaIried of feeling ILL., He retired early,
eNpect{Hg to be fully recovered by the fol-
.ipwEllg morning. When morning dawned
he was no better; in fact, a little worse
We called physician, and ] carried the
neWs to the factory that my father
Wgnld:: be unable to work for a
concerning him. for he was
:iu=sO perfect a physical condition that
a.. serious illness seemed 10 no wise
ntohable. However. he seemed 10 grow
worse as days passed by, and finally took
to. his bed with what physicians said was
typhoid fever. Even then every one
thought that with his excellent cOnstitu-
tfon, he would be enabled to outwear the
disease, and none of US felt greatly
alarmed. | had ceased working at the
factory temporarily in order TO attend
more closely to the bedside of my father
and sat up with him every night, securing
Sufficient sleep during the day.
: He seemed much better one evening as
we sat around him. and about 10 O'clock |
-ba6e those watching with me to retire and
:eEered TO stand the vigil alone. To this
arrangement my father readily acquiesced:
ia fact, he was so strong and cheerful that
any company seemed unnecessary, save to
the medicines left by the phy-
sfcan.
It may here be stated that my father had
made much research In the occult sciences
Hewas somewhat superstitiOus-b believed
that there were forces and senses as yer
undiscovered and unknown, and that
great events and even lives turned unon
trivial things He had studied much the
records Of The wonderful feats supposed to
have been performed by the East Indian
lugglerS and masters of legerdemain and
hypnotsm. be was fond Of the weird and
sunearthly stories of Poe, and passionately
fOnn Of games of solitaire. | have known
him. to play game before any unusual
Undertaking, and even 10 mold his
subsequent proceedings somewhat upop
the outcome of it. Through seeing
him play and ponder over this
of ha I
learned to play several of the iE tricale
com mbinations. Left alone with him |
brought a little table very near his bed
side. and prepared To pass away the time al
his fayorite game in such close proximity
to him that he could see the cards and the
manner in which they left the pack him.
self Fhe ombinatiOn / chose was an es-
peeially. easy one. but failed in it several
times. in succession. Again | tried It. and
a. ain | failed. My father was surprised.
shuffling and cutting the cards l
tried again. | failed. Father grew more
and. more interested. He asked for the
CARDS. and | passed them TO him. He shut
.Hed'thenr thoroughly and returned them to
me-. dealt them with no better success
l felt that this was strange. since the CON-
pinauof. was so exceptionally simple.
:. l. prepared to deal again. but before be-
ginning my father raised himself upon his
:elQQW and said: TON. you know that
believe much in the turning of these relics
ol ahe ancient Eastern cuD1urers. You have
Seen now obstinate they seem to run to-
hlght. sup ose now," and his voice sank
IN m solemn, distinct and plaintiye tone,
+ndt some great event depended upon
your success In bringing forth the correct
s9l9ton Of this problem. For instance"
anu ne looked steadily into my eyes. ''your
faIber lie or death may depend on it."
l-remem Der well, aye perfec lly, the effect
lne grnesome words had upon me, but re-
pied that such thoughts were furthest
from my mind. This was not true; they
were uppermost in it, and after his strange
words they excluded all else.
: You say was a TOOL to play for sucn a
stake as my father named. An! So |
was; so | was; bul an irresistible. strange
and unnatural fascination for those cards
-atOnce seized upon me. dealt again and
failed. Once more with the same resu I.
My father became In ensely interested.
bat not in the least excited. | became
frightened as deal after deal resulted in
failure. | was extremely nervous. Clan
cling into mirror opposite me | perceived
that WAS deathly male. Sill I daalt tba