Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-08-27
THE JACK P0T TEST.
HOW A MEAN GAMBLER SPRUNG IT
ON SISTER ABIGAIL

| T., Wanted Another Proof of q Theory
c,lneerning a Womanly Weakness and
Got 1t at the Expense Of Uncle Uriah's
Opponents at Poker.
Bent, but tall, with sparse whiskers
seldom trimmed, nearly 20 years old,
| Uncle Uriah used to sit in the poker
game IL Omaha, his long thin fingers
tComblingly placing his chips and his
old eyes glittering rs he timorously
I skinned his hand. Pathetically like Lit
! tie Nells grandfather he looked some
! times. bat lie was at no desperate shift
| to obtain stake, for he was the pos
SCISSOR of q competence. and he brought
into the game the Eaving grace of the
parsimouy to which he had been habit
uated in his earlier days III n New
! Hampshire home. He never bought
more than So worth of chips at time.
These he would for the most part ante
away waiting for aces or better, and
when he finally Gid get a good hand a
bare call represented the climax of his
| enterprises.
In those days there was always q
game on Sunday afternoons, and Uncle
Uriah, although a devout Methodist,
could be counted upon to arrive directly
| after service and o-sit in until the time
for afternoon Sunday school. The boys
used to joke him at first and ask him if
| he had sneaked his stake out of the CON
tribltion box, but to this question and
| to all others of similar leyity he OPP
posed q scared seriousness which showed
that his passion for the game was more
q weakness than vice.
Uncle Urjah lived with his two sis
! ters-Abigail, aged 63, and Ann, aged
90 In New Hampshire they had been
called the girls, - but in Omaha the
irreyercnt, with rude directness, referred
to them as Uncle Uriah'S old maids. -
Il did not take the boys III the game
long to discover that Uncle Uriah was
in much fear of Abigail i'll general and
in mortal dread that she would discover
his besetting weakness. He would al
ways shy at a new player, and he fire.
quently held forth to the boys on the
Improperly of talking on the outside
about the features of the game.
- sh d hate 10 hev the parson know"
he used to say Il wouldn't keer so
much bout Ann, cause she's easy
skoered, but L wouldn't hev Sister abb
gail know fer the biggest jack pot twas
ever played on this here tablet
There was never any solution to tho
mystery Of how Sister Abigail discover
ed the obliTuity in Uncle Uriah's life
Some oilicious neighbur may have told
her, or i'll an excess of caution Uncle
Uriah himself may have aroused her
definite suspicious. At any rate, ON
particular Sunday afternoon he arrived
at the room at the regular time. but
without the key with which he, i'll
common with other participants i'll the
game, had been provided. The negro at
tendant admitted him, and he was soon
engrossed III the play.
There was Il good jack pot on the ia
BILE Uncle Uriah was in and was deal
ing IL was his last say, and the two
men ahead of him had bet $40 each. He
had drawn one card, and the play was
up to HIM. He had not, however, look
ed at his draw when the key turned Ill
the snap lock of the front door, and Sis
ter Abigail, pale with righteous and
terrible rage, strobe into the room and
up to the table.
"GamblinP' she cried. "And on tho
Lords day, with the church bells ringin
outside and decent people fiockin to his
worship. L expected to find you here,
you hypocrite!' she went ON, turning
TO Uncle Uriah. lyon better get ON
your buds right now and come home. 1"
Il was comm in IL jiffy," the old
man said, weak with fear Il guess
might as well go long with you as with
anybody else. " He rose and steadied
himself by holding the chair.
Seth Coe was the coolest hand in the
game. Even Sister Abigail had not dis
concerted him. He reached over and
turned up Uncle Uriah's hand. 1t was
n flush.
You better straightcn this pot out
before you go, unole.' said COe. You
call, of course. L suppose a flush is
gOod:" Coe asked, turning to the other
players. They nodded assent. Coe stack
ed up the chips "Forty-three dollars
here " he said, pushing them toward
Uriah.
The old man started instinetively to-
ward the pot and then remembered Sis
ter Abigail. He stopped and waited
tremblingly for her decision.
IL seemed to the players, who turned
from the weak and tirnid old man to
the dominant woman, that at this cru
cial test something of her moral rigidity
relaxed. She did not sweep the chips to
the floor. She said nothing about i'll
gotten gains With visible effort she
oveTcame slight nervous construction
of the throat. She grasped her skirts
firmly and swept toward the door
''Uriah, - she said. with great dig
nifty, Il viii wait for you in the hall
ut thu foot of the stairs -
After Uncle Uriah had obtained his
S43 and departed Seth Coe said in his
leisurely way:
The old man didn't have a flush. 1
slipped in a card TO fill it out for him
L reckoned you fellows wouldn't mind
paySI once more for positive proof that,
no matter what kind Of a woman she is,
she's always in with your play when
YOU win the Dot. New York sun