The Red Cloud chief., 1900-09-14

tionably n good piece o. property, but
what show hey you got " gcttin' one?
You put me out o. patience. Look at
the pots you might "a scooped with two
pairs an three OF q kind II you'd only
dra wed like a Christian. says |, instead
q putin your trust in strange gods, an
sacriicin' your good chips an the prin-
ciplcs - the game In a strange an FOOLS
pndeavur. It's fyin' in the face ~ Prov
idcnCe,' / says to him. AN you'll go down
to your grave unhonored, unwept an
unhung II you persist In 1t. More'n that,
| says. 'you'll be lead broke all the days
a. your life
but YOU couldn't convince him. There's
four royal nushes In the deck. aint there?'
says he. AN them five cards IL Just IA
likely to come as any other Ave. aint
they? An II there's anything certain In
this here world q trouble an uncertainty.
tits that a man'll get 'em sometime. IL
he keeps on trrin'. An say! When l
do get EN- II the Lord spares me TIL that
happy day, | wont do anything but swat
the gang
" The LCrd can spare YOU easy enough
says |. disguised. an so can the commu
nifty II vou go on tryin' to break up our
national institutions by propaGatin' sich
~ ll'"Ns " o'Na"A
ism | says. IT'S ridiculous
But there wasn't no movin' Of him,
an We just had to leave him to the error
of his ways, an what we thought was the
inevitable vengeance of heaven. An the
boys calculated that beIn' "a how he was
"A ~self-appointcd vessel O. wrath, an
bound to be skinned In the game as long
as he continued to play It. 1t was n sort o
missionary work to assist In the skin
min. Most of 'em devoted themselves to
the missionary work. too, with such holy
zeal that Pete was broke most of the
time.
'ITe was good grit though. Nobody
never heard him complain. for he seemed
tn be sustained by "A calm confidence In
that royal flush. an every time he went
, broke he'd 10 back to work as clipper as
a catfish an stick tn II till he had n stake
to sit In the game with.
That was another thing I used To talk
To him about while ! was trying to show
him the error Of his ways, 'Supposin' you
do get g royal flush sometime ! says,
! how can you expect to get a legitimate
profit out of It II YOU go broke all the
time irwin to get II? You won't have no
none to bet with | says.
"Rut all he ever said to that was, oh,
the Lord will provide, You don't suppose
thing IL goin' tn I've so ordered. do YOU,
that heavens richest blessin' would come
to q man, an him not have the means to
back II up?' Which was the next door to
blasphcmy. as | told him frequent. but
he only smiled. An when the time come.
as II did finally, when his faith was iusti-
fled. an he reaped the rev ard OF per-
sistency, II were developed that he had
good reason Ia smile, for he had provided
for that contingency with n wisdom COM
pared to which the guile q the sarpent
was as the ~babblinss o babes an suck
lings. oh. Pete was a polished article
even n We did size him up for a deluded
fanatic all them years.
"It went on for a matter ~ fifteen year
or more an petc's royal flush come to be
n standin' joke in town. Fellers would
laugh about 1t every time he set into a
game, an II we've esteemed n great piece
a wit for some Teller to say. IN bet a
thousand to one in town lots that Pete
won't get "A royal flush tonight Course
nobody ever took 1t up. but everybody'd
laugh, an Pete would blush, an he'd say,
IN get 1t some time, boys. II | don't to-
night
"An' he did. If ever a man won sue
| tess Nv lbllS -'bIlllIltu. PERSISTENT SlfNB-
glin' for 1t. Pete Kennedy did. an things
fell out about as he'd always said they
would. II was n pretty good game from
the first, for there was a couple a. cross
roads gamblers who had come to town
lookin' for blood, an IL happened that
there was two planters Just back from
New Orleans with their money In their
packets. an they was lookin' for excite
,n.pt npn al '.p, kngunl D,,. M IiLaI
him an asked him to join IN the game
that was started just about the time they
got or at Arkansas city here. AN Pete
havin' a hundred In his clothes, Just nat
urally did.
"He played lucky from the start. 1t
happened fortunately that he didn't get
a nance to make one OF his fool draws
more'n once in lalf an hour or so, an
his play outside a. that was fairly good
pots on fushes an fulls. besides two OF
three that he took In on deuccs and
nerve, or some slch hand,
Anyhow, he had near a thousand In
front ~ him when there come "A big jack
pot with fifty In II before It was opened
Pete sat next to the dealer an he passed
hayin' on'y a king. jack an ten o. clubs
not bein' permitted to open under the
rules. The next man opened II for fifty
the next three come in, an Pete raised
It a hundred, That was his fool play
Whenever he'd see a show for a roya
flush he used to play as II he had It
for fear he wouldn't get the good Of 4
when II did come.
well. II worked pretty we'll. One ot
the crossroads professionals dropped out,
but the other one had a seven fun, pat,
AN after the two planters had come In,
he raised Pete another hundred. Pete
came back at him with another and one
of the planters dropped, The other had
n four flush and he stayed. The gambler
for some reason, didn't raise again, buI
simply saw the raise, and there was
Sl,:aD in the pot.
"In the draw Pete got the ace an queer
a. clubs, ] suppose II I'd a caught then
cards under the circumstances. I'd d
dropped dead with surprise, but Pete
never turned a hair. There was a KIM
of a drop to tn. left side of his face AN