The sun., 1896-08-23
HIS LAST HAND AT POKER.
END oFA GAME 7HAT WAS MARKED
M PHENOMES.I LUCK.
The Limit Had Been Taken on the Piny
Was High, nnd the Hands Were Exc
trnordinnrv-A Rattle Hovat with n

Five men OF better nerve never dealt cards
| than tho five who sat playing poker the other
night In one OF those uptown club rooms that
are so quietly kept as 10 bo entirely unknown to
the police and the general public. Tho game
| proved to be phenomenal.
| The play high. Tho party had played
together once n week for n long time and tho
limit had always been 81 Mt the beginning OF
tho evening though occasionally II had gone as
| high Ms ten before morning. This particular
| night however, the cards ran remarkably well,
and by midnight tho limit wns ignored IL not
| forgotten. Two OF tho players had laid their
| poCkctboOks alongside their chips. They had
not played so before, but the gambling fever had
| come upon them with the excitement Of good
| hands. one against another, until tho friendly
| contest had become n struggle for blood. Fours
| had been shown several times since midnight
| and beaten once. while straight ilushes had
| twice won important money. Deck after deck
| had been called for. and tossed aside in
turn after few deals, till the carpet was
strewn thickly with the discarded paste-
| boards but there change in tho
markable run of the cards. Pat fulls and
fiushes showed in deal after deal. aud the
| luck in the draw was extraordinary and so
| evenly distributed that they all grew cautious
| Of betting on any ordinary hand. and n bluff
had not been tried for an hour Yet no ono had
offered n remark. though the play grew higher
| and harder. 1t was rs IL each man feared
| to break the run by mentioning 1t. At length
| the Colonel spoke.
THE devil himself is playing with his pic
ture books tonight. think" he said. with a
short laugh, Us he lost two stacks OF blues
| seven full.
| 1t had been the Doctors deal. and he looked
up quickly. Gazing at the Colonel he said,
| Tho hands arc certainly remarkable. | never
saw many big ones at ono sitting" Tho
words worc simple. but there was curious tone.
half OF question, in his voice. There had not
been such nervous tension in the party before,
| but they were nil men Of experience and had
seen trouble between friends resulting from
careless words on many different occasions
| The Colonel detected the tone and answered
quickly and gracefully:
| That's so, Doc. I've beaten some strong
| hands myself tonight"
| "A new pack, SAM" said tho Editor. who was
| the next to deal The imperturbaple darky by
tho sideboard produced one instantly, and the
| Editor shuflled it carefully. Then no offered it
to the other players in turn. They all refused
| to touch It, and, shutting the deck himself once
| more. he laid 1t down for tho cut and began to
deal. 1t was n little thing but so far out OF tho
ordinary as to mark the fact that they
fencing now with bare blades and from that on
| there was q strict observance or the punctilo Of
| the game.
Ono Dy ono the Carus lell IN uve symmetrical
little piles, as perfect as Hermann could have
made them. for the Editor deft with his
fingers, but one after another OF the players
passed out and jack pot made. The big
hands had failed to appear.
1t was the ConRressman's deal, and he doubled
his ante and took the cards. The Colonel sat
next and pushed out four blue chips-S20. Tho
| others all came in, the Congressman ing
good and dealing without word. There WAS
~
certainty to all OF them which sometimes comes
to experienced players, that n mighty struggle
was at hand.
The Colonel made n pretence of looking at HIS
hand but in reality looked only at the first two
cards. They were both aces. He passed.
The Lawyer sat next. lie found q four flush
and n pair OF tens: SO he passed.
The Doctor was next player. He held pat
straight, king high. He opened the pot for $50.
The Editor came in on three dcuces and tho
Congressman with pair OF queens put up his
money. The others came up promptly.
The Colonel. having first call looked over his
hand carefully. The last card was ace also,
and he called for one. holding up 4 seven. The
four hearts in the Lawyers hand were tho
queen, ten. nine. and eight He promptly dis
carded the other ten, and drew one card. The
Doctor. of course. stood pat, and the Editor
drew two. The Congressman also drew TO the
strength OF his hand.
With all the players in. the Doctor felt that
straight doubtful hand. but he put up
twenty and waited. Tie Editor looked
iously for the fourth deuce, but, finding neither
that nor u pair, laid down his cards.
Three skies had fallen to the Congressman's
queens, and he raised it twenty. Thcreupon
they all looked keenly Mt the Colonel Not
muscle moved in his stern. handsome
face as he saw the raise, and went Nifty better.
II WAS 500 for the Lawyer to come in. lie
simply made good, and looked ann 'ousy to see
II there would he another raise. They criticised
his play afterwRrd, claiming that lie should
have raised bAck, but he defended It by saying
The first Of these resigned. king straight
was no hand for that struggle. The Congress-
ever. for he had drawn three skies. and he came
back at the Colonel with nifty more.
| The Colonel raised him hundred; 1t looked
as II it would be duel between him and tho
Congressman. but the Lawyer WAS stlli to hear
man made good and the Colonel raised again.
The Lawyer counted his chips carefully. and
drew @ out out hendr:d f doaT ~ bill and pushed ed
Once more the Congressman made good. and
tho Colonel raised II hundred. Tho LAWYER
The Colonel raised 1t n hundred. The Lawyer
made It another. and thero were over $500 on
The struggle OF the evening had come. and
the three who had dropped out were not less
sey s" ers far wG s for M 9 oeMr
looked as calm as II on parade, and the Law;
yor's only sign Of agitation WAS his heGhtenrd
| color. None Of them thought much OF that,
for hc WAS of plcthOrc habit and flushed easily.
The Colonel raised it hundred. The Lawyer
fumbled his pock et book for moment, and
drawing out IA fresh roll OF bills raised 1t two
hundred. The Colonel raised IL five hundred.
The Lawyer came back at him with five hundr red
more. The Colonel raised u thousand. The
Lawyer tipped up the ends % the bills no
| holding In his hand, and counting thom rapidly,
| found n little over two thousand dollars. Sspa-
rating the odd money. lie extended his hand
with tho twenty Cri,uries in II ana was In tho
nct OF speaking. when he checked himself as
suddenly ~ II he had heen shot.
| " raise--." lie began, and then was stricken
dumb. The bills were stil In his grasp. and In
stead Of laying them down. he sat for moment
AS rigid as statue. willie Ills face grew white
| The silence WAS intense. The Colonel was the
only ono In tue party who showed no excite
ment but the Lawyer who had watched hIm up
to that moment with the most arute scrutiny.
no longer looked at him at all. Instead, he slow
ly withdrew b s hand, picked up his cards.
which he had laid, face down, before him, and
| looked them oyor again,