Cañon City record., 1899-04-13

had thus far shown signs Of being COM
panionable. and he was one Of the
four. They had dined and were en-
Toying their cigars together. The talk
was desultory and amounted to little.
One proposed a game OF cards, and
two OF the others were ready, but the
little man declined. The pause that
followed was . little awkward. They
did not even know one another by
name. and the wording of the refusal
seemed curt The little man seemed
to realize this. for after a moment of
silence. he continued: Nothing would
have given me greater pleasure year
ago uan to join you in game of po-
ker. In fact nothing would give me
greater pleasure now. but am done
with cards. and l believe any one of
you would refuse. as do. II cards had
cost you what they have me-"
The Others spoke few polite moth
ings. to the general effect that It was
free country and nobody was Obliged
TO play anything he didn't want to
play. and one-the youngest in the
party-said:
"Unlucky. suppose -g-tsf
~H'm' Well, / don't exactly know
as you'd call 1t that" said the little
man refectively. Il most always win
when I play. or used to, that is; but
I've had some of the cussedest. narrow
est squeaks in the game that could
easily be imagined. and I made up
my mind some time since that I'd had
enough OF EN- And as-I can't play
cards without getting back into poker,
just naturally quit cards--
STORY about it." asked the young
man.
Yves. Sort of. But Tn mo- story
teller"
Man won't play cards. Ought to
do something" This was the young
mans appeal to the other two. They
nodded.
We'll. / don { know as 1smind spin
! ming the yarn" said the little man
after . little hesitation, "seeinx that
you don't any OF you know me. and
you won't any Of you be likely to see
me again after we separate at the end
OF the trip. II you knew me wouldn't
I
wouldn't be worth telling any other
way. Tne first narrow escape had
was from state prison. and q good deal
worse At least I count II was worse.
for would have taken with me to
prison the Consciousness that 1 de-
served to go, and according to my mo-
tion the knowledge that you deserve
runishment Is deal worse than pun-
ishment itself The game fascinated
me. ~ IL fascinates everybody. think.
who plays Il much. I played more and
more. and ~ ! generally held my own.
and won more often than 1 lot 4 eus
to playing harder and harder I'M
was not contented with anything but
n big game-the bigger the better. l
have Travelled three times all the way
between Chicago and Washington to
get into q game with genuine high
rollers or course l couldn't do that
sort Of thing without good supply
OF ready money and considerable
amount Of spare time. had both. for
had . fair cash capital and q busi-
ness Of my own that paid me well.
And my business was In such con-
dition that could leave II to NJ en-
pioyes for . week at . time. One night
there was . particularly sti6 game at
the club frequented most In New
York, where then lived. The limit
was on. and raise to thousand was
made several times during the even
ing. had expected hot work, and had
put 5000 In my pocket that afternooa
There was one man IN the 6Ane TIT
particularly wanted to beat. partly
because he was q noted player and
had never met him before watched
him carefully. and twice In the course
OF three or four hours play l was sat
isfied that he took in a fairly large
pot on . bluff. had nothing In my
own hand either time, and din't care
to pay to see his cards. but felt are
that II he had bluffed twice succsss-
fully. as l was positive he had. he
would do II again. Presently he tried
1t. OF course could only suspect him
unless called. but decided to risk
It, though had only pair Of sevens
when came In after the jackpot was
opened. and I hadn't bettered In the
draw. II had been opened for nys hum
dred. and my antagonist had r11sn1 Il
. thousand before the draw That,s
what made me come In on 20 small q
hand. for concluded he was trye6et -
steal the pot, which was big enough
to Justify the attempt, for there wAs
over thousand in Il before he spoka
stood the raise and so did the opener.
who stood pat. Ny man drew two
cards and drew three. As said. I
caught nothing. The opener bsk q
thousand and my man went baok 1t
him with another thousand. nimply
made good. but the opener Lost his
nerve and laid down = small straight
without calling. Ny man had evident
ly reckoned on ny dropping u1t also.
but my bet became . call NhHh the
opener gait. and he showed down two
skies. We had some little char over
Il. and the game went on. I didn't
know till next day how near ruin
had been just then. When I went to
my once In the morning found that
my cashier had gone TO canaA< and
that Instead Of having seven thonsand
dollars In hank. ~ supposed had,
my account was overdrawn. That does
not sound like ruin. confess. but l
va the trustee OF certain funds
amounting to about $4,000. and was
called on for . settlement that very
dhy. u II hsdnt ben for NJ v1n-
niAs1 The night bsfore cculdn't have
settled. aaA u h Aa16t b>ea fux v1n-
ning that pot On . pair OF sevsna I
wuni6 have hrd to quit the game. for
~ Z lonsf before that hand The