The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-09-17
TWO PAIRS or ACES.

mi<ing q mint julep. This was q
favorite concoction of his. As he
placed q teasponful of granulated
sugar in the glass and crushed the
sugar against the mint leaves with
the back of spoon he said to his
friends about the table:
Gentlemen in mixing q mint
julep always use granulated sugar.
The sharp edges Of the sugar cut
through the tender mint leaves and
cause them to exude those aromatic
juices which go SO far toward glad
dening the heart and stomach of a
sinner. Properly constructed" he
went on, as he added about three
fingers of whisky to the glass, there
is no decoction in the world better
calculated to make q man forget
the penalty he must inevitably pay
for the infraction of law; and that
naturally brings me to the consider
ation," he continued as be inserted
a large barley straw down among
the drowned mint leaves, "of why
it is that things which are almost
universally considered to be wrong
officially are always pleasurable.
Why did Providence put into alco-
hol that quality which paints land
scapes in the brain of man? How
can man be held accountable for
failing to resist the invitation which
rises like the voice of siren from
that glass?"
Here. he stopped long enough to
draw up through the straw mouth
ful. Of nectar. ~ ssss y 81
"Of course know that whisky in
all its forms is injurious, he contin-
ued, "but what cannot understand
is why it should be SO attractive, so
appetizing, so insiduously bewitch-
ing. Now, there is another weakness
to which flesh is heir" he continued.
II allude to gambling. Do you re-
alize, gentlemen, that nearly every
business man of your acquaintance
is gambler? No, / don't mean that
he bets on horses or cards, but that
he takes chances and derives pleas
ure from the uncertainty. The more
risk he takes the more interested he
becomes, and necessarily the more
happy, for happiness gentlemen,
is, after all, only Inconsistencies.
The more absorbed you are in your
pursuits the happier you are. Ed
ucate a man and give him leisure
and you enlarge his capacity for
unhappiness.
"But | started out to tell you a
story about gambling which l hope
you will find interesting. 1t will
surprise all of yon, gentlemen, to
hear that / began life twenty five
years ago as clergyman. l was
young, married and struggled hard
for fame and bread, receiving none
too much of either. I was located
at Memphis as pastor of a little Bap-
list church. The salary was small
and my labors met with but little
encouragement, when l received a
call from a more remunerative field
of labor situated a few miles from
New Orleans. After consultation
with my wife we concluded to ac-
cept the offer, consoling ourselves
with the reflection that the better
we lived the more fit we would be
to aid others less fortunate. Dis
posing of our household effects, we
embarked on the steamer Roanoke,
bound from Memphis to New Or
leans. The voyage down the Mis-
sissippi was monotonous, as such
trips usually are, until, as I was
pacing back and forth on the saloon
deck, my eye was caught by the re-
markably fine physical bearing of
man seated at one of the tables.
His chief charm lay in his large,
lustrous black eyes. The Colonel,
as l afterward found him to- be, was
engaged in conversation with two
men, evidently planters. / had dis
carded my regulation black coat
and tie and wore a mixed tweed, in
which appeared more worldly than
j cared to own. Perhaps it was nv
or my close scrutiny
that elected an invitation from the
colonel to take hand in a game
of poker he had just suggested to
the platers."
Here the story teller stopped to
order some more mint and sugar
before resuming his story.
Gentlemen" he continued, 81
never have been able to satisfacto-
rily account for my actions that af-
ternoon. think that / must have
been hypnotized by those wonderful
black eyes of the colenel, fof I &C
cepted his proposal without a qualm
of conscience. / had in my pockets
q little more than $500 which was
to furnish our new home. Before
could utter my protest the colonel
had literally forced me into q chair
and ! found my fingers nervously
clutching Ave new slippery cards.
Before l entered the university L
had lived as other young men do,
and, to my horror, I found I re-
membered with -apparent ease the
most salient points of the game.
NIf Ia q cnrinua fact nanflononn ),