The morning times., 1897-01-17

turn-a 'roun' an 1 say, If you shoot-a me
T it will be &c devil to play / tell you e
never shoot me, or / not be ere playin'
pokaire.'
'Play up, FIeechy; it's your bet" one
of us interrupted impatiently
"oh, / run away l nevaire bet / got
nossing iii my hand. No-wait beet. 1
go hundred better Zan re colonel
We threw down our cards simultaneously.
Fleechy chuckled.
81 tole gDu I got nossing. Look at my
cards. / bluff you You yong men call
yourself pokaire! Give me Ze pool
A moment later:
Il got news for you, Tore
Yes, old man; what is it,
american heiress. She Is a. globe
trotter lookin' for a 'usbin. Comm up
tomorrow steamaire.'
'W hats that got to do with me?''
'She heiress, / tellin' you. Got $4,000
year. And what a ansome. Il got
mustache.'
The lady has mustache?'
Yes. f got a mustache. sBut wat ze
odds for a mustache? You marry her and
in week you not care if she ave a barbe
foot long
"A barber
"Yes, a barbe-a beard, whisker You
can peek it out wiz ze-wat you call tongs,
nest ce paS?''
"Oh, go on, Fleechy; we are no. SO dead
broke as all that
Your bet, Fleechy.'
''I bet five rupees
"See you at five said another.
Hes seen yer, signor!'
We groaned at the culoneIs pun.
what you makka noise for?'' Fleechy
inquired.
Il said, signor, that lie had seen yer. '
Felice shrieked with delight.
''Ho, no! Hula Monsieur le Colonel, IL
fait un calembour. Wat you call pam
Not pan, pun
"Pan or pun, 1T is all re same. 1T is q
calembour.''
II raise it hundred, remarked the
| colonel.
Fleechy was still laughing.
20 got nossing in my hand, assure you.
But so delighted wiz re pan Of Monsieur
| le ColonelI go a thousand better
We threw down our cards. We were not
fools to be taken in by this sort Of
thing.
Heb, heh heh!' Felice shrieked again
tole you 1 got nossing, Why you not be
lieve me? [ bluff you bce-u -utiful. Son
felice, son beato,' he broke into a song
| from his favorite opera, as we handed
| him the pool.
1t was always so with Felice. When he
| intended to win he treated us like SO
| many children, and he won. Sometimes he
| would teach us, but not often, for he
knew that it is as impossible to teach a
man to be good gambler as TO teach him
| to be poet or a composer.
| "Coraggio, gentlemenl Wat for to be
| afraid?' he would say encuurag gingly when
! we drew back from one OF his inscrutable
| audaciues. And it was noteworthy that
when he dropped his mask and spoke thus
| he invariably lost Those who know poker
| will know that il is a game in which to
| tell lie in such q way as TO make your
opponent think you are telling the truth
or conversely, to tell the truth in such u
way as to make your opponent think you
are telling a lie, is of the essence of the
game and is counted honorable.
Poker is an honorable game, in which
the bestliar wins.
Therefore, Fleechy won honorably, be-
cause he had the strongest backing OF
moral courage. Most of us have not
sufficient courage to tell good sfraigh
lie, Or indeed, to commit any manly sor
of sin. But to return to the evening oI
which the Mokely incident occurred.
We heard the patter of hoofs; then we
heard Mokely shouting for his groom;
then Mokely cIattered into the room, spur
jiEgIing.
Hi: stand me a drink, sonebodyv'
he shouted, broad smile on his red face
''Heh, heIr!' old Flcechy wheezed in a
paroXysm of delight. Com long, old
toy What a jolly! Let's all to stant
him drinks and mex i'm 'toxicate, eh.
dionk, eh? Then we rook him a pokaire
Heh, heh, HEIR his wheezy old laugh
slowly choked itself out.
Make me drunk?'' contemptuously. l.,
like to see yoI. Come on, room for q
little one" ard Mokely elbowed his way
into our circle.
The hands were already dealt, five ard
TO each player, before Mokely entered the
room. But he wished TO begin at once
and took the next five cards from the
pack.
My own hand was worthless, and Sc
myself to observing the other players
Fleechy, on my left, was scowling at hi
cards, frowning as if in perplexity. Hi
little eyes shone under his shaggy gray
| eyebrows. His face told us nothing We
could make use of. Mokely picked up his
cards, looked at them, and laid them dow
again a t once. Then he looked around &c