Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-05
THE OLD STORY.

minute, said the retired gambler. 5
In my time I've seen a good many of
them come and go. but I want to tell you
there is different kinds of wiseness, and
the mans that's an ace-full at one game
is a wee pair of dirty deuces at another.
Witness the innocent and coniding Ruba
for instance. You can hear about johns
ny Wise and his pals unloading a street,
full of gold-bricks IN the hayseeds, but
you send Johnny Wise and his squad
out into the brush. where Farmer John
can get a fair whack at them and the
honest tiiler of the soil will skin them
out of the gold in their teeth. But that's
neither here nor across the alley. What
started me was reading this piece about
a clerk blowing in the office coin on the
races and then croaking himself, 1t re.
minds me of the time 1 was up against
the same brace game. I was running a
crap game for old Artie Nolan, in Chi.
cago, about the time of the Worlds Fair;
We used to have some swell games, for
craps was just nothing but all the goods
then, and suckers was as plenty as bees
IN a clover patch. One night the game =.
was going good and strong. There were
four or five race-horse men, some brok.
ers and others 1 can't remember, but any
way the bones was rolling constant and
lively. About / o'clock a little guy. with
a cigarette in his chops. blows in and
looks on awhile. l sizes him up as a ten
per clerk and pays no attention to him.
By and by one of the boys goes broke
and the new member sits in for his place
Well, I'm a walrus if l ever see the way
that mug won. Every time he would
'lade' the boy with the bones would lose
out, and every time he was shooting he
would come near making fou or five
passes. AT the same time he played them
safe, and when closing-up time came he
had to put some of his money in his hat
because his pockets was FULL.
That don't worry me none. because l
knew that he would come our way again
and we'd get him in time. Sure enough
a couple of nights later back he comes,
with some of his cash and we welcomes
him with the joyous grip and the free
and-easy hand shake. He had a friend
other mark. Well. what we did to those
nice boys was nothing but highway rob-
berry. We cleaned them out so good that
they had to borrow car fare home. How
ever. the first man was game. and said
he had some of his winnings planted,
and would give us another chance soon.
He did, too. and l don't think he lost
much. Anyhow he got to be a fiend
against the game and used to come pref
ty regular, sometimes with his friend INC
sometimes alone. He never repeated the
killing he made on the first night, al
thong he had some streaks of luck, but
as a general thing he used to quit loser.
I nosed around a little on the outside and
he tells me that he is assistant book
keeper in a big clothing store. Likewise,
he says that he has a girl to whom he is
engaged. Things goes on like this for a
couple of months. until one night I meets
Eddy. that was his name. on the street.
| We gets to Ginning and he tells me that
he will be around that night with a bum
die of COIN.
"Where'd you get it?" says I.
"'Well, Billy he says: It's like this.
I've been saving up to get married, but I
find that I amt got enough. Now I'm
going to take this coin and either double
it or lose out altogether
mix, Eddy says l.. Cut that out.
What you want to do is to leave that
bunch alone and blow this crap-shooting
business. I'm telling you for your own
good, and I've been in the biz long
enough to know
"However, Eddy said he was deter
mined to ave another final crack at the
game and start his wedding right or not
at all.
"Sure enough he blows in that night
with his friend. If ever I saw a guy
with a lovely bun on that friend of Ed
dy's was the boy. He was sloppy. Eddy
first stretched him out on a sofa in the
corner and told him to go to sleep and
that he would take him to his home by
and by. His jaglets just grunted and
rolled over. Then Eddy sits in to the
game. Things were going full blast. and
the soft money was everywhere. Eddy
had a lovely evening of it. Things kept
coming his way until he had enough coin
to start a war on in front of him. Then
the luck changes, and Eddy couldn't win
to save his life. He'd either crap on his
first pass or he would take some big bets
on throwing his point and lose out. BY
and by he got nervous. and pretty soon
he was up in the air. Then the sharks
around the table went at him bull-head-
ed. I tried to give Eddy the office to quit.
but he wouldn't do it. He kept shooting
and losing until by and by he laid down
five on his first roll and says:
Z"'Well, this is the blow card If I lOse.'
"Then he rolls the box and the bones
come up 'one-two.'
"'Craps. you lose.' said T.
Eddy got pale around the gills. and
noticed his hands shook as he got up
"sWell. Billy, you called the turn
said he. I'm broke
"'Sorry, old man. I says. Il tried to
steer you off. Do you need any changer
Ono. I don't think I'll need any for a
long time says he, kind of shaky like.
Then he went into a rear room to wash
up as he said.
"The game went on, and I was just
thinking about that remark about not
needing any change for a long time. One
of the players had just said, Fights my
point and l was saying, Shoot! when all
at once Bang went a CUR in the back
room.
"'My God. 1 cried. That fellow has
shot himself!
Everybody around the table followed
me as l ran into the rear room.
"'It was the usual story, I suppose
said the blase listener. Eddy was lying
there weltering in his blood. with tile