The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-11-06

"'Thats all right he said and threw
another half sovereign In the pot,
"of course there was nothing for me
to do but raise him back, At first
thought he had full house, but when
he continued to raise so cheerfully I
concluded he had small fours. Finally,
the American on my right looked at my
hand. Then he looked at John Bulls
cards. Then he whispered something
to the other American. The Sylph' had
laid himself down on q lounge,
After we had raised each other ten
or fifteen times John Bull bought a.
fresh lot of chips. did not hand them
over without a remonstrance.
II said; Don't forget that I have
played poker before and this is your
first game
"The American, who was lying on the
lounge, tried to bite off a laugh and
snorted.
II said: Whats the matter?' He
said: I'm laughing at your efforts to
dissuade him from playing to the full
strength of his hand
Then he laughed again. This rather
nettled me, and said, L don't want to
dissuade him from playing to the full
strength of his hand. I'm merely try
ing to prevent him from playing above
it's full strength
"The man ON the lounge began to
laugh in q manner that struck me as
ridiculous, and The Sylph' coughed
two or three times in suspicious man
ner, as if he, too had considerable trou-
BILE to restrain himself John Bull, in
the meantime, came back at me every
time / raised. stood this for some
time, and said: Remember, old chap,
don't blame me if you lose your money.
don't want it,
Il had no sooner said this than the
man on the lounge rolled off it and fell
to the floor. He got up with tears run
ming down his cheeks and made his way
into the bedroom. There he threw him
self on the bed and yelled. 1t wasn't
laughing, it was yelling"
The Sylph' left his chair and leaned
against the wall in corner. He shook
so hard that the glasses on the side
hoard jingled, and he said, o, dear! Q,
NNNl iltNE q i1ldll w lip was opQuI ~ olS
of heart failure.
Il said to myself, They can't be try
ing to draw John Bull on; they would
never attempt that at my rooms Then
I gave the problem up.
THE Scotchman at last became in
teFested. He had been sitting tight,
first looking at John Bull and myself,
and then at the two who were laughing
fit to split their sides. Finally he got
asked The Sylph' what all the row was
about. The Syiph' could not speak,
but walked into the bedroom. There
he was followed by the Scotchman.
''There I could hear muff1ed CONVEX
sation, and then the trio began to roar.
Whenever I suggested to John Bull that
he might regret his evenings expert
ence the three would break into roars Of
laughter.
Finally John Bull got to the end of
his last pile, and putting the last crown
in the pot, said, I call you. What have
you got?'
Hearing this the others rushed into
the room, but We're quiet as they looked
at me, I looked at the pot. I did not
reach for it, I did not want to be in a
hurry, for felt it was mine
I've got four jacks I said.
John Bull replied, I've got four
kings.
Then the others began laughing like
SO many hyenas, and only then did
understand why they had done nothing
else for some time.
1T look me a. little while to see the
humor of the situation, but T finally
did. And the most painful feature Of
the affair was that John Bull thought
he was betting his money on two pairs,
He had simply followed the advice Of
The sylph, who, upon seeing his cards,
| advised him to bet until he was dead.
He did not go quite so far as that
which was a good thing for me-"
''That was an occasion, Major" said
one of the listeners, when you mislook
| the strength of your hand"
mo. sir" replied the Major IT made
no error about the strength of my hand
1t was the strength of the other mans
| hand I mistook."