Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1895-05-01
pack fell face up. II wa. the eight Of

tiOnS so portrayed IN mans face as IN
Harry Randall's. By the rules of the
game he could not claim the fallen
card, but was required to take the next
one. Despair, doubt and a sudden re-
solve showed themselves in his face
one after another, and then the young
mau's eyes were fixed on the pack from
which Mort Henry had half pushed the
next card.
| sit seemed impossible that Harry
could have seen it, yet I would have
sworn that he did, as his face lighted
up, and then would have sworn that he
didn't, as it blazed forth in anger the
next instant
81 take that card, he said. pointing
to the eight of hearts.
The card is out by the rules said
the doctor.
,'sMort Henry dealt the next card,
which fell face down.
Hl" i beg your pardon for that slip he
said. steadily. The second card is
| yours
"'What is it to you!' cried Harry,
/ reaching for the eight. What have
you to do with it? You're not in this
hand, and he put his hand out for it.
Rules said the other, briefly, set
thing his hand over the others. The
heart is out of the deal
''The young man burst out: You've
got all my money, and now, when
you're not even in the game, you're
| trying to cheat me-
SAT the word cheat I saw Morris
10 rk~ srrh<
as he turned full face to the young
man, still keeping his hand guarding
the card. Then both men reached be-
hind them, and the other three of us
had risen and were standing with the
prospect of murder before US. Harry
spoke first. Have you ever listened
through telephone when the receiver
was out of order and the voice clacked
and ratified in your ear? That's the
way Harry's voice sounded to me when
he spoke:
"''Fair play. It's an even chance.
Put down your gum He laid his on
the table as he spoke. Mort did the
same. believe 1 tried to say some
thing, but il wasn't a success.
You've ruined my hand and me-
said Harry, his voice steadying as he
spoke, looking straight into Morris eyes,
which returned the gaze as straightly.
It's a matter of life and death to me to
win or lose that pot, and I'd shoot you
like dog for what you did
He pulled his hand away from the
card and Mort seized his own pistol,
but dropped it again on seeing that the
other made no movement to pick up
his weapon.
.'"Now,' continued the young man,
there's the card. I've got right to
call for my card face up when it's dealt.
If that card is a heart, as the other
was, We'll play the hand out. If it's
not, Mort Henry, it will be death for
one of u.s."
g For Gods sake, boys, don't do
this the doctor found voice to say. L
wouldn't turn that card for anything
on earth
f" I'll turn it, said Mort, without a
tremor.
There lay the two loaded pistols,
and the two cards, one face down, the |
other face up The only sounds could |
hear were a drumming noise in my |
head, the short breathing of Smith
and the doctors foot shutting on the
floor. With his left hand Mort picked |
up the card and turned it, at the same
instant selling his pistol with the
right. The card was the three of
hearts.
THANK Godr said somebody. Per-
haps it was my own voice I heard. I |
don't know. The first thing I remem-
Der distinctly is hearing Harry say:
-. 'Goion,with the play, gentlemen
and then made small bet mechanic
ally. for should have known better.
Smith dropped, and the doctor, after a
long hesitation owing to the fact that
he had a good straight, saw me. but
both OF Us dropped when Harry pushed
his whole pile into the center.
"Three of kind isn't much good
against flush, nor is straight. Har-
ry, with long breath, scooped in the
pot, and threw down four clubs-king,
queen, jack and ten, and the three of
hearts. He had bluffed.
"'That is the last game of poker I
will ever play he said, rising. Mort,
L noh your AO1SAVCucSSs WILL you snake
hands with me-?
Eyes said the other, after mo-
ment's hesitation. i will, and con-
graduate you on the greatest bluff I
ever saw made. Even If my life was
involved in it. he added, in an under
tone, as he grasped Harry hand.
THAT ended the game Afterward
Harry Randall explained his play to
me. He had sized up the doctor as
holding a straight, and he wasn't much
afraid of the threes that Smith and
held. ~
'sOf course, he didn't want the heart
that was turned up, as it would fill
neither the flush nor the straight, but
he caught glimpse of the next card
as Mort Henry half dealt it, and saw it
was red.
This meant the ruin of his hand,
but in that moment the lightning flash
OF an. idea came to him, and he re-
solved on his bluff that risked his life
and Morris. 1t was an even chance for
him, tor he knew only that the card
was red, and if it had been diamond