Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-01-27

wife.
'If succeed in breaking her, he
said to some Of us after the first few
weeks, of course III hand back TO her
al of the dseds aud securities consti-
tuting her one third that she has
solemnly made over to me. But she |
doesn't know that | will, and in play |
ing for keeps, and so my fun is not |
diminished particle.
she soon found that his attempts to
beat his wife's game and her luck we're
not pauning out. The whole truth of
the matter is that shs was better
poker player than he. but what man
would ever own up, even to himself,
that his wife could beat him at the
game of draw or amy other kind OF q
game OF cards? In the first place. she
WIS about 100 per cent more cool headed
than he; in the second place, she hal
"A seener appreciation of the value OF
hands; in tho third place. she was
buffer; and in the fourth place. she
knew her husband like book and
could figure down pat from the exprea-
sion of his face just what his hands
were worth. When you throw in with
oil If these advantages the natural in
tuition of wnman, and the instructive
| just at the right time, you can perceive
| that this man am telling you about
/ didn't have such show as be thought
J be had when he talked to bis friends
about restoring all of his winnings to
his wife at tho windup.
"Ihe little woman was not loser
| dollar from the very first night they
started play. At tho end of month,
IA Tom told me himself, it seemed to
be no longer a question as to which OF
| the two would come out ahead on Il
| nights play, but simply question as
10 how much be would lose. At tho
end OF six months his wife had s200, 600
worth of his securities in ner compart-
ment OF their safe deposit vault.
g Luse! y said Tom to mo ABOUT this
time. Holy smoke, she DOESN'T know
how to lose! She'll haye me a rauner
before / know where | am. And bluff
Say, she hluffs mo out of my own jack
pots on eight or ten high when There
arc thousands OF dollars in the pot.
Then. when | conclude to put stop
to this hluIiing and raise her up to the
ceiling by netting whole slathera oil
money on really good hands happen
TO hold, she holds four or straight
flush. There's no way know OF tc
get line on tine way womun plays
poker, but she's got me no deep in the
hole now that I've got to sue the game
through.
"Well, at the end Of year this nervy
! little woman had not only captured al
that portion Of her husbands incomI
! that had formerly helped TO enrich tht
green cloth of Butte. but she hat
gathered in about an oven half of hi
~ oil r. 10 tn mn nil M
anil do business with, as I've told you
but it was in her name. 1t took he
another year to break him, but sh,
9 made mighty slick job of it at TIN
s end. 1t was almost exactly two year
to day after they had started tn
Q game when the inevitable night cam
on which this Butte man had to sal
the sponge and acknowledges that b
was all up Each of them had on
q corner of the table a list of securitie
!, stocks, bonds and other properties, wit
the money values noted, that they in
dvidually owned, and they had s!eyiss
: a system of checking this list OIL Wit
8 pencil as the securities were wagere
u in the progroas OF the play.
q ''Then at the end of each week the
y would have a settling day, and o
y these settling days nine times out c
d ten the securities and real estate deed
q would be transferred wholesale froI
10 the husband g to the wife's sice of TIL
IT safe deposit vault On the night tina
9 she broke him fiat she had been blutlin
l. 80 persistently that he concluded b
70 would call halt to that sort OF thin
rs soon as he got good hand. HI
,. opportunity arrived when he gave hin
u self three jacks, and then another JAG
p on the draw. His list OF securiti'
3, beside him was pretty we'll checked o
= by this time, but he thought he had
ie good enough hand to do double I
., quite turn, and SO, when he saw th
his wife waa inclined to raiss him
Q, the betting, he just fired the who
to list 10 the middle of the table.
ct "'lf haven't got you heaten th
~ time, Jimmy he said, i might
ig we'll go broke
~ "'Well, that won't break you, y,
know, she replied sweetly, you've &
en your diamonds yet, haven't your
70 'Oh, I'm too strong this time to
liz you bluff me out that way, TimmJ
tn suid he. "If you have the audacity
It's think you've got mo beaten this til
as and will stand for the raise by cherki
en- Of an equal value on that little list
as yours over thsra, | will put into I
m pot everything own in the world t
to cept my duds and this watch a
tla chain that was given TO me at ho
when / was hoy.
Try "'Aud the value OF what you've {
ed left?' she inquired, cool as cucumb
70, "'Well, said Tom, guess my rir
nd and pins are worth $4,000 and y
~, can appraiss my wardrobe at abe
MT 81, 600.
"The little woman calmly took
pencil and checked OFF 3l1, coo worth
hit securities on her list
- call you, said she.
"Iom smiled as he spread out
We hand.
ate Too bad, Jimmy be said, Fl
nee jacks.
it "'Too bad, Tommy, said she, apre
ter ing out her hand. -Four queens. "
MT