The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-04-27
A GAME OF POKER.

"No, don't play poker any more, !"
said big westerner who came into an
up town clubhouse the other night with
some friends who had been showing him
the town. Somebody had suggested a
little game Of draw as an appropriate
wind up of the nights diversion.
why, how is that?' exclaimed one
Of his friends. "You used to play stiff
game. You haven't sworn off, have
your"
"N-no," said the westerner, still
serious. II have not sworn off, but
there is no excitement in the game for
me now. The last game played was
too exciting"
The thrilling story thereof runs as
follows:
1t was a dozen years ago, when /
was tenderfoot, with the usual allow
ance of freshness and ignorance Of from
tier perils We used to call it brashness,
and / was certainly brash. roamed
around the country rather for the better
part of year, with more or less vague
purpose of settling somewhere, but not
caring much where.
II was we'll down toward New Mex
loo when there was a rumor of Indian
troubles, and / heard that company of
United States troops were on the march
toward one Of the principal villages
where the redskins were particularly
sullen.
~ had been out hunting for week
with couple Of fellows / had met in
one of the towns, when we got the news
from a stranger who came into our camp
late at night and asked for supper. He
admitted when we questioned him-not
too closely, for inquisitiveness is at a
large discount on the plains, but casu-
ally-that he was scout in the govern
ment employ and was on his way to join
this company.
There's likely to be some pretty
warm work. he said when we asked @
little more, for if the red devils are not
on the warpath now they will be in a
day or two, and you fellows will do a
smart trick if you turn back.
Turning back, however, didn't seem
very attractive to me when there was so
much excitement ahead. promptly re-
marked that thought / would go on
with the scout and offer my services to
the captain in command. / told you l
was pretty brash at the time, and had
no knowledge of military affairs. My
notion was that the captain would be
glad of a recruit, or, at least, that he
would make no objection to my going
with him.
IL noticed that the scout looked at me
little curiously, but he evidently
thought it was not his business to edu-
cate tenderfeet, and he only grunted.
Ny two companions were as fresh as I
was, and we told the scout we would go
along if he had no objection.
Its free country, and / reckon
you can travel wherever you like, he
said, with grin that l understood bet
ter afterward.
''We started before dawn and had
thirty odd miles to go to strike the trail
where the company was expected to
camp that night. There were still some
ten miles to go, when, as we were
rounding small hill, the scout suddenly
leaped from his horse and called to us
to do the same.
''He had seen Indians, and, to cut it
short, we oamped that night in a place
where the scout said that four men could
hold out for awhile even against the
hundred or SO in the party that had sur
rounded us. 1t was a certainty, though,
that we would all lose our scalps unless
help came, for there was no water to be
had, and the Indians knew it and made
themselves comfortable just out of range
of our rifles.
1.-THE scout didn't say much for long
time, but we could see that he was
thinking as hard as any of us, and we
were all pretty busy at it. There didn't
seem to be anything to suggest, or at
least there was nothing that 1 could
think of, excepting to make dash and
try to break through.
Nobody said anything in reply when
/ spoke of that, and the scout gave me
look of disgust that made me angry
enough, but shut me up all the same.
Finally he said:
"'It's just this way: These devils
have caught us and they know it. They
won't make rush, for they know we
will shoot, and an Indian will never
risk being shot if he can get his man
without. We can't fight our way out
There's too many of 'em. And we can t
stay here any longer than we can live
without water.
II asked him if the captain wouldn t
make search for him, and he said the
captain didn't know he was coming.
He's on his way south, he said, and
the trail he is on is ten miles to the east
of us. There's only one thing that see,
and that means certain death for some
body, l reckon. It's certain death for
all of us, though, if something amt
done. / asked him what it was, and
he said:
If one man can make his way
southeast far enough SO that the noise
of the firing will reach the company,
the captain will send searching party.
1t all depends on how far the man gets
before he is killed. If we all ride out,
We will all be killed. If one man goes,
the others may stand chance.
"We all looked at one another in 81
lence for good while. My blood ran
oold at the idea of riding out alone into
that pack of fiends, but l realized that
our only chance was for somebody to
go, and I knew life was as sweet to the
others as it was to me.
"Instinctively we began first talking
about the way the man who should go
should maneuver to best advantage be-