The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-07
WHEN POKER WINS A SOUL
n STORY OF a KING FULL
By a MAN ASLEEP.

That the gambling habit is Of all habits tin
most difficult to break away from" observed IN,
man from Arkansas to a few congenial sniri,,
who had met In a resort near the Twenty.four,h
street horse exchanges the other day, ais illps.
tratcd by the queer case OF Fred Merkin and hi.
last game OF poker. Fred lives up at the Spring.
now, but at the time l speak Of he ran a boat IN
the ouachita River, between the small town,
down near the Louisiana border. and then tbcr,
wasn't n tougher region in the Southwest. ror
was there a tougher man In II than Fred Mcr.
Kin. you knew Arkansas as well az I do. and
had lived there as long as I have without bein,
killed. you would have a pretty fair idea OF
Frcd's calibre from my introduction.
1T was just as natural for the boys down IN.
Ouachita to play poker as 1t was for them to cn,.
In fact, unless n man was a pretty sn,d card
player. and knew how to protect himself tnlcro.
bly, well, he didn't stand much chance Of eating
texcept. OF course. fish, for he soon los, IA,
money at poker, and had to take to the river,
catch something to sell, and thus get money
enough TO sit in another jack pot. The young.
sters knew the spots on a deck Of card,
long before they learned anything about
the numbers Of the scars and stripes on the
flag, and II Is perfectly safe to say that there
were more families without Bibles in the cabins
along tho river than without packs Of cards. All
the men from the river used to stop at our town
ehaAf AciHha anu Niht uflIf1
to make Sunday a lively day for most every.
body except the preacher, but as he came only
four times a year for funerals and weddings, ho
didnt seem to expect anything different.
The river game started up regularly every
Saturday night at about shutdown and kept
going right along up to sunrise on Monday,
We called 1t the river game because The players
were all well.known river men. and it was by
far the hottest game ia town. II was the nm.
hifinn ~ ay.rp lnN al,,,, ~. n,,..I.. .--I
time he got old enough to use tobacco. to grow
to be big enough and slick enough aud rich
enough TO sit in the river game. People used TO
reckon time from some big hand or slick play
used to date from the founding Of m" eitV.'
death bn ss : IN yirs they would speak Of somebody.
Roby held four aces three hands in su unse SSIS
and got away with the money each time. the last
few words always being emphasized 20 distin.
Eulsh the episode from another when four aces
had been held three times in succession. and tho
holder had no; got away with the money, orr
From the time he was grown up Fred Merr.n
never was known TO miss II session OF the river
gambler he was a good many thousands OF 81.
lars ahead OF It when Mamie Marcy came duwn
love with her. None OF us blamed him in iis
least, for she was a very pretty girl Of gbous
things that made a man think OF his mother in
tue far East. and Of evenings. at the old home
and hymn Sanny singing afis s on s sSsds yi HiTh taa and iSd al at it ,bas
f%f9nticr and sHart makes a bS6y Of him %' Tor On a l 'Hs
that, a girl, like Mamie should take a fancy to
she did, and set about, With both feet to
him. AT first she got him to quit swear
ing, and after biting his tongue two or
an oath, he finally got so he could talk along
like a deacon. Then She shut him of on drinking.
credit to a Ouachita catfish. Last Of al! she
drew the limo at poker, which has always seemed
fFT pea M 4 nitte sn ses, 40 ,ba r IN neT, and and Ior a tiine
by somebody else.
I've all felt mighty bad about this, for Fred
liked his company and Jokes and his laugh. and.
besides, he had won a lot of our money and We
sorry for him though, and it was just awful TO
see See how badly he wanted to play when his bosY
fairly run past the club, and look tIe
other way for fear he would be tempted,
n neS set saSnt at OF tS Se Post fSs e Once sns w woSis act St Tho ds
him like n red flannel shirt on a turkey got-
Was beginning aasG 10 Se sSo ,aGg 3 , ot ) t IN tSa L sHd 10
fhs' he heo %G1q ~ a isii from Sn sraSs-ni the start 10
nnday Se night 1T 10 d sns5 ni IN ;nst Ss tho one ss sas,
opened up and invited us all TO the wedding,
n which was sc sGh conrs TO come of at noon the
sat down just for socinbility, and got tangled up
sunday 81 nds Se and hr SniRi III Saf PiiaSefM ni n aisa' AND and al" u
course, there WASN'T any wedding that time,
but Miss Marcy was the right kind and gave
Fred another chance. She let him know, though,
divorced abe wasn't going TO be a second wife IN
any game. SO, after that one break Fred pulled
with it's usual sessions, only he never showed up.
He told the boys that the first man who asked
him TO play poker would either have TO shoot
quick or get hurt, and perhaps this was ono
reason. why none OF us ever went out and oom.
pelled him TO come into the club, We all liked
the Marcy girl and really were glad enough 10
natural that W. should have been better pleased
Fred began to get Better ana setter aT and mas a;
there was lots of room for improvement in him,
before il was finished. and after a year passed
the wedding day was again fixed for Sunday
Fred behavior must be paid the next evening.
1T was about . o'clock on the morning OF tho
height, and the betting WAS remarkably heavy
not cn!y because the hands were running high,
but because there was a stranger at the ta6is
too fast to suit home industry, One OF the boys
az IhS naoiS hau 1.it gone nroNe and had
city and in walked Fred Mcrkin. He had on his
red working SHIRT, which was tucked inside "a
pair of jeans. hut his sombrcro had been left be-
hind, and he was in his bare feet. Ever, body
was dumb with surprise and waited for him 10
wedding, but We all felt that he was walking on
tacks and playing with fire and stamping where
aik'Ao NaANu u NIthu nc uOlltu nc entered
the room.- Those who had bet on the wedding
coming of were wishing they could hedge, and
those who had backed the card habit ngainsb
the girl were figuring their winnings.
Fred didn't pay any attention to anybody,
and l never saw n Ouachita crowd so silent h-
fore, unless they were putting out night lines,
tiarrsc Trup went the cards IS they slid togethcr
in the shuttle, and flap, tap, Hap, AS they landed
on the table in the deal. The coin Clinkcd about
and when anybody wanted TO draw cards he held
up his fingers TO denote how many. Fred s!uod
there with his eyes wide open, staring straight
ahead, and Just as silent as the rest. Finally no
walked slowly across the room, pulled ont a
handful Of gold, which he laid ON the green cloth,
and sat down in the one vacant chair.
1T was n jack pot, and the stranger was deal
ing. Everybody, passed and threw in more
money. and mechanically Fred did the same,
The next man dealt, and still no one opened It,
Then II was Fred deal. Looking straight ahead
OF him, with his old clevcrncss his fingers flew
over the edges OF the cards, ripping and rum
ling them III ana out with lightning quiCkncss,
passing them to DO cut, and then dealing them
off with marvellous rapidity; and all this time
nobody broke the oppressive silence with even a
whisper; The stranger opened the pot with ivo
$40 gold pieces, and Fred went back at him with
his whole pile; Tho rest of us dropped out,
the stranger had Il. pat hand and came up. |
Frcd's was a pat hand also. and was too heavy