Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1896-09-10

His hand shook perceptibly. and for the
first time the coloners face relaxed. He
smiled grimly as he laid down four aces
grew almost ghassly I as he he Showed SHOW ID his 5
hand. He had caught the jack Of hearts IN
the draw, and had won the pot.
The doctor watched him curiously. even
more SO than the others. though the entire
party was surprised. To his professional
eye it looked as If the excitement would
culminate in a fainting fit. That for mo-
nifcent nerve which had ssade the lawyer
famous stood him in good stead, ard he
rallied by supreme effort Once more his
hand was as steady as clockwork as he
reached out and drew the great pile OF
chips. and gold. and bank bills towam him.
1t was not. however. until after ie mad
done a strange thing that he could com,
while he was doing 1t the others Looked on
In silence. They had eosn four aces beat
en- by a straight flush, but even the excite
ment OF that was in abeyancf. some
strange Climax was coming and none could
even guess what 1t would be.
First he counted out from the pie twenty
goo bills. and. folding them together with
bet, he placed the roll in his yocketbook,
and. closing that carefully. put it into his
inside pocket and drew a long breath-al-
counted out 5000 more and pu,hed 1t over
to the colonel. who looked at II and at him
in wonder. The remainder o. the pot-a
u
front of him. and before speaking he look
ed at it steadily for a space wherein one
might count fifty. At length he said, rais-
ing his hand. as If registerins an oath:
Il am done with poker. have nothing
to say against the game. You all know
how we'll l love to play. To my mind there
is no other sport that equals it. None, l
believe, shows the skill and the mettle of
a man as this does. Yet, loving the game
as well, and admiring 1t as much as / do
! give it up from this moment. forever.
dishonor tonight. The money / have just
put back in my pocket was given to me
last evening by a client to be paid out this
morning. and If had lost l could not i'm
medfateiy have replaced 1t. I had 1t in
my possession simply because l had not
the opportunity to deposit It, and In the
excitement Of the game I forgot that 1t
could make me do a thing like that is one
that 1 dare not risk again. Then. as the
last 5000 bet was not my own, cannot
touch the money l won with IT. l have
would never have betted against dishone st
money. it is as il it had never been at
stake, and consequently it Is yours.
The colonel bowed and picked up the
LAS to the rest of this" continued the
lawyer, pointing to the pile which he had
not yet disturbed. Il am IN doubt: d Ger.
quitting a friendly game with such heavy
winnings. 1t is not question OF r1gnt, but
of delicacy, ana l prefer 10 put " you.
as a jury, whether owe you satisfaction
in any way"
He paused. and still no other man spoke.
1t was as If each one was waiting Tor the
others. So the lawyer spoke again
What am to do?' he said. i am IN
the hands of my friends"
They all looked at the colonel. He was
the Oldest in the party.
..I am no mans censor" said he. seeing
that he was expected to speak Neither
do I care to consider the morals OF the ne
question, but / have seen man blow his
brains out over a card table after he had
done what you have done. and lost, as you,
fortunately, did net. ! said then that he
did well. Having won with money that
Ijas not your own, even though you did
it Inadvertently, you could not touch your
winnings. But as to that which you won
with your own money-are you sure that
you will never play agatn?
absolutely" said the lawyer.
'Then pocket your money. We have
played together, we five, for more than
year now, and doubt If you are much
ahead Of the game. even counting your
winnings tonight"
He extended his hand, and the lawyer
gfasped it nervously. One after another
the three others shook hands with him
also. and the game was over.