, 1898-08-29
THE JACK POT TEST.
HOW A MEAN GAMBLER SPRUNG IT
ON SISTER ABIGAIL.

He Wanted Another Proof Of = Theory
Concerning q womanIy Weakness and
Opponents At Poker.
Bent, but tall, with sparse whiskers
seldom trimmed, nearly 70 years old,
Uncle Uriah used to sit in the poker
game in Omaha, his long, thin fingers
~tremblingly placing his chips and his
old eyes glittering as he timorously
skinned his hand. Pathetically like Lit
tie Nell's grandfather he looked some
times, but he was at no desperate shift
to obtain a stake, for he was the pos
SCISSOR Of a competence, and he brought
into the game the saving grace of tho
parsimony to which he had been habit
uated in his earlier days in a New
Hampshire home. He never bought
more than s. worth of chips at a time.
These he would for the most part mite
away waiting for aces or better, and
when he finally did get a good hand a
bare call represented the climax of his
enterprise.
In those days there was always a
game IN Sunday afternoons, and Uncle
Uriah, although a devout Methodist,
could be counted upon to arrive directly
after service and to 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-
tribution box, but to this question and
to all others of similar levity he op-
posed a scared seriousness which showed
that his passion for the game was more
q weakness than a vice.
Uncle Uriah lived with his. two sis.
ters-Abigail. aged 63, and Ann, aged
55. In New Hampshire they had been
called 1.-THE girls, " but in Omaha the
irreverent, with rude directness, referred
to them as "Uncle Uriah's old maids"
1t did not take the boys in the game
long to discover that Uncle Uriah was
in much fear of Abigail in general and
in mortal dread that she would discover
his besctting weakness He would al
ways shy at q new player. and he fire.
quently held forth to the boys Oh the
improperly of talking On the outside
about the features of the game.
oil udtc " LtN tue ptIsOH hlON,
he used to say. Il wouldn't keer so
much bout Ann. cause she's easy
skeered, 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 tbs
mystery of how Sister Abigail discover
ed the obliquity in Uncle Uriah's life.
Some oficious neighbor may have told
her, or in an excess of caution Uncle
Uriah himself may have aroused her
definite suspicious. At any rate, on a
particular Sunday afternoon he arrived
at the room at the regular time, but
without tho key with which he, in
common with other participants in the
game, had been provided. The negro at.
tendant admitted him, and he was soor
engrossed in the play.
There was a good jack pot on the Ia.
BILE. Uncle Uriah was in and was deal
ing. It was his last say, and the two
men ahead Of him had bet $40 each. He
had drawn n card, and the play was
up to him. He had not, however, look
ed at his draw when the key turned in
the snap lock of the front door, and Sis
ter Abigail, pale with a righteous and
terrible rage, strobe into the room and
up to the table.
"Gamblin! |" she cried. "And on the
Lords day, with the church bells ringin
outside and decent people lockin to his
worship. l expected to find you here,
you hypocritel" she went on, turning
to Uncle Uriah. "You better get on
your buds right now and come home. :"
II was comm in a jiffy," the old
man said, weak with fear. II 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 wal
q flush.
"You better s~traighten this pot out
before you go, uncle" said Coe. lyon
call, Of course. I suppose a flush is
good?" Coe asked, turning to the other
players. They nodded assent. Coo stack.
ed up the chipA Forty three dollars
here" he said, pushing them toward
Uriah.
The old man started instinctively to.
ward the pot and then remembered Sis.
ter Abigail. He stopped and waited
tr%emblingly for her decision.
It seemed to the players, who turned
from the weak and timid old man to
the dominant woman, that at this cru
oial test something Of her moral rigidity
relaxed. She did not sweep the chips ia
the floor. She said nothing about i'll
gotten gains. With a visible effort she
overcame a slight nervous construction
Of the throat. She grasped her skirts
firmly and swept toward the door.
"Uriah," she said, with great dig
nifty, 81 Will wait for you in the hall
at this foot Of the stairs"
After Uncle Uriah had obtained his
S4S and departed Seth Coe said in his
leisurely way:
1.-THE old man didn't have a flush.
slipped in a card to fill it ont for him.
Ireckoned you fellows wouldn't mind
payin once more for positive proof that,
no matter what kind Of q woman she is,
she's always in with your play when
you win the pot. New York Sun.
Careful.
It is related Of a certain clergyman liz
Edinburgh that he was so careful Of his
quotations and so fearful Of the charge
Of plagiarism that once, in addressing
the Deity, he surprised tho congregation
BY saying, "And thou knowest, dear
Lord. that. to quote a writer in q late