St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-06-22
STAKED ON A CARD.
A. Poker Game in Which Two Re-
volvers Figured.

A.Poker Game in Which Two Re-
volvers Figured.
The major had just concluded his
story wherein he figured as the hero of
a mighty poker game and won thou
sands of dollars on a royal flush. which
he held against another mans four
jacks. Every time the circle of ancient
and honorable recounters of adven-
lures gathered in that corner Of the
club the major was sure to spring one
of his marvellous poker tales upon the
party, and on this occasion he had
done himself. as was evident when the
wcsterner asked:
What kind of a deck were you US
ing in that game. major?"
why. a regular deck. sir. . regu-
lar deck. Same as any other poker
deck"
Then either you or the other man
must have had jack up his sleeve.
was the westerner's conclusion. "for
there were evidently five jacks out in
that hand
A roar of laughter at the ma jor's ex-
pense greeted this announcement. and
it was redoubled when that veracious
raconteur got ratified and endeavored
to explain that he meant four tens.
Perhaps it was with view to cover
ing the ma ajor's embarrassment that
the westerner struck in, when the
noise subsidized, with a poker story of
his own.
81 would venture to say" he began.
that no man living ever sat in a game
when more was at stake on the turn
of 4 card than in a certain game which
! once played in Frisco.
Five of US sat in and we all had
plenty of money to stake, but before
thexame was over money was a matter
cf secondary interest. for three Of us
had sat hack and seen a card thrown
on which the life of one man, and prob
ably of two. depended.
Il say we all had plenty of money,
but that isn't so. for young Harry
Randall. who was, then cashier of a
bank. was. as knew at the time. play
ing with money which meant ruin to
him If he lost. Before the game began
] tried to keep him out, but he said to
me:
I've got to make heavy win to-
night orwell. they'll have big head
lines on me in to-morrow's papers"
by that | knew that he was 10
volved too deeply to stop there. and
the game began. Next to Harry, on
his left. sat Mort Henry. a man who
should have been a professional gam
bier, for he played better pok er than
any man I ever had sat down to table
with before or since.
"He was a fanatic upon the subject.
and any interruption or irrcgularity in
the game made him furious and even
dangerous, for Mort was. in q quiet
wav. a ba man. and more than one
man had fallen before his revolver.
"He was clear nerve all the way
through. and during the week in
which the same five of us had played
every night he was big winner. TAX
ing chiefly from Harry Randall. l sat
next to him on his left and next to me
was mine owner named Smith. who
would have lost thousands instead of
hundreds hut for his great caution IN
play.
"A wealthy, retired physician was
the fifth member of the party. lie
and Smith were going east on the fol-
lowing day. SO that night was our last
play. and it started high.
"There was no limit. and. though
was pretty well fixed in those days. l
began to get uneasy at the pace. but
INV cards kept me about even. Smith
aud Mort Henry were winning. the
doctor was losing heavily. and Harry
was petering out his chips little by lit
tie, the most maddening thing in
poker. and getting upa very nasty tenn
per over it.
whisky was going pretty lively and
Harry was taking more than his share
Of il. This made me the more uneasy.
because the more he drank the moro
ugly he became. his temper being di-
rected toward Mort Henry, who was
taking it good-naturedlv.
"As time, went on and Harry became
more abusive. saw an ugly look come
into Mcrt's face. and once or twice
managed to slip in a word, quietly
begging him to overlook the young fell
lows remarks, for l was afraid of
trouble.
..Well. the trouble came soon enough.
and along with it the most stupendous
and splendid bluff | have ever seen.
Harry had lost quite little money
through the evening. and the play
was steadily getting higher under the
forcing tactics of Smith and Henry,
who kept winning steadily.
AT length it came to a big jackpot.
Mort Henry dealing. opened it with
three good ones. and was rather in
clined to exult when Smith raised me.
hut rather less inclined when the doc
tor raised him. and positively doubtful
when Harry lifted him with . good,
tie stack of chips.
Mort dropped out. not feeling quail
lied id putting up 50 much on me-
dium-sised pair. | stayed. Smith
stered and the doctor raised, only to
h. hiled hack by Randall, who was
stalking his all on lucky chance, rs
we afterward saw.
NY three were too good to throw
dcwr and stayed until after the pot
renr-eented enough money to have
LA. mn all Harry had lost during the
week. the final call was mnde by the
doctor. and the draw came
.t,f eourxe my draw was two carda.
Mort Aealt them ont slowly, and they
aian,, help my hand any. u IVES