The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-19

lessness, his studied inattenti ton. his fire.
quenU inquiry regarding the amount of
the ante had all been assumed. AS an
electric shock the realization came TO me
that l was about to witness a death Crap
pie between two professional gamesterS
who lived by their trade, with whom any
act that insured success was fair and in
whose hearts pity was unknown.
The unexpected raise bY the gentle
"tendertOotn was as much of a surprise to
the people at the table as to me The
fourth and fifth hands at once dropped out
and the delay that had given me time to
make my study of the youngsters face
was Occasioned by the old mans hesita-
ton as to whether he would merely
stay in the gsme or raise back He
finally made good, and the first and
second hands having quit the game re-
solved itielf into a contest between the
tenderfootn and the old thorough
bred
The call for cards followed.
The "tenderfoot," adhering to his orr
glnal determination, drew two cards.
Leaning forward he took out of the
window, l involuntarily glanced into his
nand and was amazed to see that it con-
tanned absolutely nothing of value. He
was holding up three odd cards of differ
ent suits. What he obtained in the
draw will never be known. Before l had
recovered from my surprise the tender
FOOT asked indiherently:
Does the ace pass"
dealer.
The fact that ne would have to bet first
seemed to annoy the "tenderfoot." He
Strengthened out his arms as if weary,
dropped his hands to the side of his camp
stool, and hitched it closer to the table.
The whole movement was that of an in
dOlent man momentarily annoyed, and as
ne Strengthened up he said almost
peevishly.
Very well bet you $50 without look
ing
As he was searching through his pile of
notes for a $50 bill-moSt of them being
larger or smaller than that denomination
i distinctly saw the dealer do what l
had been. expecting to see done from the
beginning.
He had placed his five cards slightly to
his right, and when he laid down the
deck the long nail of the little finger of
his left hand held out" five cards from
the bottom, and he placed the rest of the
pack adroitly upon his previous hand, re-
marking as he did so:
Il don't take any
AS was sitting almost behind him, 1
had no difficulty whatever in seeing the
four aces in his hand, which I confidently
expected TO find there. The fifth card
was not visible. / felt no remorse, how
ever, Tor the pretended "tenderfoot." l
had decided definitely regarding his
character and felt that he was entitled
to his fate
AS / expected the dealer raised the bet
5000 The "tenderfoot" looked over his
hand, apparently for the first time after
the draw, saw the $500 raise, and then
inquired:
How much of stake have you before
your"
Exactly $1,000, - was the prompt reply,
Well, then, raise you 81 200"
II call; what have you gotl"
-Four aces replied the "tenderfoot,"
laying them uqoc the table.
The old man never turned q hair, but
asked in voice as calm as the last re-
quest of dying saint:
What IS your side card?'
The king of hearts," said the "tender-
foot adding the fifth card to the four
already upon the table
The old gam bier being the dealer dared
not show his hand. He reached across
and turned the five cards displayed by
the "tenderfoot' back upward They
matched the others in the discard exactly.
He then looked over his own hand again
and saw that his fifth card was ten of
spades. AS he punched his cards and
laid them thoughtfully upon the table he
merely said:
1t wins; overbet my hand"
He then punched all the cards on the
table-the pack must have contained eight
aces for "tenderfoot" had evidently
worked 'hold-out' when he hitched up
his stool-and tossed them out the win
dow.
AS gave the porter his tip on the fol-
lowing morning at Omaha, he said to me
in garrulous sort of way:
Nice man, that 'tenderfoot' He gave
me $50 sinner Tor a sample pack of all
de cards on de train"
Great guns" | exclaimed "When
did he do this"
The night he came atoardw