The morning times., 1896-12-26
THE OLDEST DETECTIVE.
He Spins the Boys a Poker Yarn at
Mrs ,T0e'S.

| into the fire with u far-away look lor a
| full half hour when tile ripple OF the cards
as Banty shuffled ana passed to Hutchinsoh
| for a cut, aroused iiim- He shifted in the
big armchair and glanced over atthe little
round table. Y,g
Cards and spades are four, three aces
are seven, and the hig fellow makes nine,'
said Hutch, counting. 'tThatmakes twenty
| four and out, and you can buy the supper,
Banty.''
'Casino," grunted the o. d. sc Gornfully,
Great Jones, but those boys are getting
blcoded."
When Mrs. joe brought in breakfast and
a couple OF stems to go with 1t the y. ID.
to ok a long pull at his scotch and settled
down for q story.
You toys think you're card players
he began, talking a t the fire, hut you amt
in 1T with the old gang that used 10 be
here few years ago That was before
either OF you fellows struck this town.
Great Jones, what a gang that was, too.
"ThOse Eoys were blood right from the
letter b. You Cont zee anything like EN-
knocking at out the newspaper shops nova
days. None OF Your casino games for them,
you can put our last chip on that bet.
1t was poker in those days, nothing but
poker, and the Logs used to have session
| pretty nearly every night. Why, I've seen
EN- come down here at O'Clock in the
n orning Sometimes they wouldn't even
| stop to get paper, and sit down to
| game that would last until it was time
| to start i'll the next afternoon That was
a great crowd in those days
They have ali drifted away now, and
| somehow I've lost track OF en-. Let's see,
there was the Ehgit brothers They were
the hottest pair to draw TO that ever
turned sheet of copy. Everybody called
'em the Brothers Ehgit Suppose they got
into the habit because SO many advance
| agents for variety shows came up in the
shop. Those kind OF chaps always talk
about their people in a funny kind Of
| lingo, and try to work the boys for an
| ad. about the Sisters Quick, lightning
| change artists, or the Brothers Brown, song
| and dance men.
Well. as was telling you, those Ehgit
| boys We're good ones. They came from
| down South somewhere, and blew in one
| day and asked for a job. They looked so
| much alike it was a ten TO one shot you
couldn tell EN- apart until You bad
| known 'em couple OF months, and then it
| wasn't a sure thing. Both of 'em were gray
| headed, although / don't think they We're
| over thirty y-ftve, and they were just about
| as different from each other as you can
| make 'em.
johnny. he was the youngest. ran to
chicken fights and dog scraps, and would
| take a chance on the red and black against
| the wheel If he was pushed for excitement.
| Maurice, he was the other, and some used
| to call him Colonel. Maurice was u regular
| dictionary. and what he didn't kuow-well
| you wouldn' [ find it III print. Maurice used
| 10 swear in Greek ana quote French and
| Latin proverbs when the cards didn't run
his way. he didn't know enough about
| poker u keep himself warm, but the luck
! he played in used 10 make the rest Of
| EN- sick.
Johnny was the poker sharp of the
| EhOif family Whom 10 10 lSra't
| looking for game you can lay O dds there
| WAS something wrong. Johnny used TO
| say there wasn't any man living that could
| beat him at good game OF draw, and
| then the boys would bring him down here
and do him. Francis was another one
! who ran with that crow d. Francis said
| he was born up in New England some
where, but he had lived dow in Virginia
until he could drink whisky like water.
| The boys called Francis j. c., for short,
| but just why, nobody ever knew. They
| used to say Virginia " ent Republican when
| he left the State. Francis was down
| there in the boom days when lots up On
! top of mountains Were sellin' at So
! foot, and somebody got killed every night.
| why, TO hear him tell about il, you'd
think every mothers son OF 'em was a
| regular walking arsenal. Francis strong
| hold was lynchings. Whenever copy got
| short and the foreman hoIlercd down for
| something to keep the machines going
! with, Francis said they used to go out
and string up somebody just for fun. He'd
! been in Jail a couple of times, but they
never gave you over ten days for lynch
| ing down in that country.
| We'll, besides the Ehgit brothers, ana
| Francis, there was Long Cuzzens, who
| did assignment work on the Globe, and
! Brown, the night police reporter. Cozzens
| came from Kentucky. Hewas n good ! and
| at the game, but the most unlucky man
| you ever saw. Brown, well Brown didn't
| count much, anyhow. They used to take
| him in because he liked to lose his salary
| and nobody minded winning it. That took
! in pretty near all the old gang. There
| was one or two that came down from the
| sun, sometimes but they couldn't stand
the pace and dropped out.
| TIE QSed to play here regular three or
four times week but what I'm going To
tell you about was the night the baby
had a benefit You see, they had lust
been paid off up at the shop ana every
| body had all sorts of money. They started
in at q little 5O-ceut limit game and had
| been dallyng along for an hour. svhen |
| dropped in. Things had begun to warm
up by that time and the play was getting
| lively. l sat down behind Francis and
| watched the run of the cards. It wasn't
! long before | could see that everything
| was coming his way, and coming hard. too
| He had a stack in front of him that would
| make your eyes turn green, and they
| weren't all reds and whites, either Those
| Eight boys Were playing 'em high and
, taking long chances TO get even Every
| time they lost big pot Johnny would
| want to raise the limit. 1t seemed as
though they couldn't win Maurice would
| take q pinch of snuff and open a big
| jackpot for a dollar or two, and Johnny
| who sat next, would raise her before the
| draw every time. CoZZens would whip
out a Kentucky swear big enough to cut
| the spots off u card and come in every
| time.
Then Brown would get his money up
| just because he'd seen the others come in
| and Francis would lie back in his chair
and grin al the rest of the boys and say,
'Bebys going to have a benefit Yes. sir
he'd win t too, every time. l never saw
such luck in my life. Why, he'd come in
with pair of sevens and make three or
hold up jack and an ace and pull full
house. And every time there was a big
pot up he'd smile kind Of slow and dra wi
out, 'Baby's going to have benefit
He got all the cash after q while and the
other boys got out their pencils and begun
scratching off I. o. us
Things got as hot as an asphalt pave
ment in summer time CoZZens was a
ripping 'em out like. an army team ster
Those Ehgit boys were sight. little
Browns money wastguing like an express,
train, and his hands trembed when he
picked up the cards to- deal. Maurice was
taking snuff by the half pound, and Johnny