Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-09-21
THE BLUFF FAILED.
BUT 1T BROUGHT AsoUTTHE DESIRED
 RESULT AT LAST.

]
 an Inscription Poker and Bottled Re.
 Treatments.
 ''It frequently happens, said a col 1ege graduate, that different ehapfers of the same Greek letter fraternity, sit. uated at different colleges, develop diff. ferent characteristics. All of these so. cieties, think, are organized to encour. age literary pursuits. l mean that's what the constitutions say. As mat. ter Of fact, the literary clement is rath. CT lost sight of in most cases in the stress of having a jolly good time 1 When convention time comes round, however. the chapters that have main tained their literary quality come to the fore, and the others have to put I'D a bluff by sending us delegates men who have high standing as scholars or elsa take very back seat.
 Ihe caapter to which I belonged was located at q country college, and {n some way or other it had acquired a reputation in the fraternity of being es. sentially nonliterary, and, in fact rath- CT sporty in character. This was SC much the case that in my junior year there Was q movement on foct to expel or suspend our chapter from the frater- nity. We weren't very strong in high stand men and eoaldn, even scare up two to go IS delegates to the conven- tIon. Another mau and myself were finally aeIec.ad fer this function as the most unsoPhisicated looking members of the chapter.
 AS usual in such cases, a special train WAS made up to start from the Westernmost chapter aud to pick up as many of the other delegations as could be arranged OH it's way to the convention 1 city. We were among the more remote chapters, and when NC boarded the train thera was only one other delega- tion on board, composed of three melu- bers. We sighed when we saw big boxes of bottled beer in the freight car and reflected on the elaborate instructions we had received from our constituents. We were primad for the occasion. My companion, Forbes, had classical vol ume in each side pocket oe his coat and there were ink stains on bis fingers. had borrowed from a elasSInate meda. given for scholarship, and tbis l had rather ostentarously hung on my watcl chain.
 Ne soon made the acquaintance of the other three delegates and joined them in their stateroom. Before long they proposed q game of poker, and one of them produced pack of cards Forbes said ho didn't play. retired to corner, pulled out copy of Gladstone E Landmarks of Homerio Study and after gazing thoughtfulIy out of the window fer moment or two apparently became absorbed il it. I admired his conception Of the part bnt I eouldn t bring myself to break up the game, and that's what it meant, for everybody knows there no fun ill three banded poker. Besides, there were only three delegates on the train to witncas my fall said didn't play, but had seen the game and thought 1t looked iater- esting. was willing to learn.
 When we got started, there was a demand for buck. and I unIiitehed the scholarship medal and dropped it !nto the pot as q good means of calling at tentiou to it. Everything went oB swimmingly for awhile. l had outra geous luck and won pot after pot, SO they were confirmed in the idea that l was a beginner. After awhile one of the other delegates got away with jack pot, and while lie was waiting for tho cards to be dealt he picked up the medal and glanced earelessly at the obversa side. hadn examined it particularly, but found out afterward that it bore tbis neat inscription; Garrett J. Gardner. Weymouth University, Glass of '87.
 fThe delegate started and looked as ne with glance that was first raysti. fled and then suspicious.
 '' 1 beg your pardon, Brother Gard Ter, he said, with touch of sarcasm. l thought you said your name was Hawkins, and we've all been calling you that right along.
 sThere was q smothered guffaw from behind the Landmarks of Homerid Study. and l saw the jig was up. We made clean breast of il, and Forbes sat into the game making it frye hand. ed, which, oi course, is the ideal game. VI U ululj J 4O.t stiiS l4UaG sGItltilSs tDAt ward for q consignment of that bottled beer, and the floor was streWn with dead Indians when the train filled up with other delegates, and they crowded around to watch the game.
 Our elaborate bluff hadn't ys orked, and the convention opened with our chapter in just as bad odor IS before. but we had made stauch supporters o} the three delegates and some other lind- ly spirits who had joined us on the train They all went to work like bea- yers, and when cur case was taken up in the conycption we had 3 good work ing majoritJ which sustained our char ter with q whoop New York Srn.
 Must Have Been Very Bad.
 In this day of slang. and slipahod English if is quite refreshing to find one l.