The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-01-14

from nowhere. Stevenson got away
, with Just as much of it as did, but
ii appeared to have absolutely no effect
whatever on him. l often noticed this
thing when 1 visited him afterward.
He could drink Scotch whisky and
water with men twice his bulk and
strength, without even becoming
flushed Come to think of it, though,
! 1 never yet saw an American who could
hold his own with Scotchman in
drinking. Stevenson rolled cigarettes
necessarily as he talked, and his whole
left hand was yellow with them. 1 men
one day.
"T should think those things would
damage you some said.
"'Doubtless they do he replied.
Moreover, fear the vice is unamiable
in the nostrils of E.en not addicted to
it. Yet hardly feel equal to the pun
ishment of abandoning them
"After that first visit Stevenson in
vited me to drop around, states fash
ion,' any evening, and l was glad of
the invitation, for he was good fell
low-he spoke the language of my
tribe as we say out on the slope. l
got into the habit of driving out to
Stevenson's Waikiki house couple of
times week, always in the evening,
and generally in company with the
newspaper man who presented me to
him. This newspaper man was a Chi
cago boy who now owns GOO acres of
| ~, x1o
main island of Hawaii. The three of
US would sit on the second-story
veranda of Stevenson's house, smoking,
slipping whisky and talking. 1 think
Stevenson did most of the talking, al
| though never in an obtrusive sort of
way. He talked in so low tone that
sometimes we'd have to bend toward
him in the darkness to catch his words.
The dullest man in the world couldn't
help see that Stevenson was first
rater, a man among many millions,
after fve minutes conversation with
him. He was an admirable story teller,
| too, and an excellent mimic-which lat
| ter fact I've never seen pointed out by
the people who have written of him.
l happened to mention one evening that
when I was a pretty young fellow 1
had fitted up a schooner ut San Fran
cisco and done a couple of years of
profitable trading in the South Pacific.
The information I had picked up on
| this voyage about the islands below the
| line seemed to interest Stevenson
good deal, and he asked me many ques-
tions that stumped me bit-for he
wanted to know chiefly about the per-
sonal characteristics of the natives, to
whom never paid more attention than
was needed to get the greatest quantity
of their cochineal and conks for the
smallest quantity of cotton and beads
when l was trading.
"One evening when the wind was
pretty high and sitting on the veranda
was therefore not pleasant, Stevenson
invited us in to his den for a game cf
cribbage. The newspaper man didn't
feel like playing, for his eye had caught
sight of lot of queer books as soon
as we reached Stevenson's library den,
and he wriggled out of the game In or
der to have chance to look them over.
So Stevenson and 1 played. He was
pretty good player, without being par
ticularly lucky. I didn't take much in
terest in the game, for never cottoned
very hard to any kind of card game
except poker, anyhow. After we had
played couple of games of crib, each
of us winning one, said to Stevenson:
"'What's the matter with two-hand-
ed game of penny-ante poker?'
Nothing whatever the mattor.' said
he, except that I can't play the game,
anxious as I've been to learn it since
first read Bret Harte. Are you good
| player?'
"Well, this was kind O. mixing it up a
bit with me, and the best I could do
was to tell him that I knew the diff
| ference between an ace full and pair
| of fours.
American way of saying that you
know all about it, said Stevenson.
Teach me poker, now.'
| "Now, I've taught good many men
how to play poker, and it's a pretty
| dangerous thing to do-for the teacher,
I mean. About every man ever put in
an eveningwith teaching him the poker
hands has wound up the night by get
ting everything had on me except car
or cab fare, maybe. The luck of the
poker beginner is simply something
that can't be explained. A man that's
got only a general glimmering idea of
the value of poker hands gets hands
when he's learning the game that
would take the breath away from sea-
soned players. mentioned this queer
fact jestingly to Stevenson.
"'You stand in no danger with me-
said he, smiling. 4 am as unlucky as
an opal
"Well, 1 ran over the deck and told
him what the hands stood for. That's
about all you can teach man of the
game of poker. He's got to acquire the
rest of it in practice. But Stevenson
was remarkably quick to grasp the
values of the hands. The flush pleased
him particularly.
"That's an apt and fitting word
said he, 'flush-flush of diamonds
and he repeated the phrase several
times. why didn't they term it
| freshet, thought another fine old
English word perpetuated by you
Americans. However, you shall earn
J my gratitude by dealing me a flush of
diamonds at the outset. 1t would be
good omen.'
1--WE started to play nickel ante
| there are no pennies in the islands