The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-14

man, whose manners were fine. and who
invariably spoke in a very low tone OF
voice The third stranger was young
American chap, who wore a full beard,
drank quite literally and had some
what dissipated look. He occasionally
let the fall the remark that he was Cal
ifernian, and it was. Of course, UP to
the three of US who knew each other to
take his word for it.
eve went at the game long before
luncheon on the third day out. and from
the beginning of that sitting the three
strangers annexed the bulk of the money.
None OF them appeared to be particular
" skilled in handling the cards. The man
who spoke with slight French accent
seemed, indeed, to be good deal OF 4
novice at the gane-so much so, IN lact'
that he ney err appeared to know when
he was under the gun or when 1t was
up to him.. The well bred Englishman
was rather awkward in his hanollnS OIL
the deck and made frequent mlsdeals'
besides constantly dropping punches Oh
cards on the deck while shuifi1ng. Inc
bearded young fellow WHO said ne was
from California, appeared to know ABOUT
as much as the law permits amateurs
to know about the great American game
Nevertheless the three of them got the
money and there was no accounting FOR
it. Every time one of the three OF us
who knew each other got hand one OF
The three strangers would be sure to nave
a better one and this sort or thing Went
on so unintermittently during the er 1a35
third days play that it surely did look
queer think the three or us VINO nao
previous mountaineering with eacn
other all became suspicious at once, along
toward the close of the third days play.
when the three of us were all to the bad,
and it seemed impossible for any one OF
us outdrawing any of the other three, we
found ourselves exchanging glances with
each other.
ALL BECAME SUSPICIOUS.
.T think too. that the three of us no.
tieed at virtually the same time that the
three strangers invariably got the big.
gest hands when one or the other OF
them was doing the de can e. We o l41are !
Suspicious of the three strangers than
the quick exchange of glances between
ourselves when one OF them appeared 10
have a. particularly phenomenal pLt OF
luck When; shortly before. midnight
we CUT play however the three of us
got together and did a little talking
had been up against a brace game, ana
each of us declared our firm belief that
the three chaps with whom we had been
playing were professional cheats.
I'VE got into the game again on the fol-
lowing morning, and from the outset the
chaps whom we suspected got all the
money, and the fact became more obvious
than ever that they were doing almost
ali of the winning ON their own deals
for when any one of the three OF US VINO
suspected them dealt they rarely stayed
long.
AFTER we had been playing for a
couple of hours the well bred English
man having the buck, dealt jack L
was sitting on his left and passed out.
My former Washington friend, who was
next to me. also threw up his hand.
The New York politician, who was next,
opened it for the limit, ana the ehap with
the French accent and the bearded
ifornia stayed along. The Englishman
raised it before the draw, and the other
three stood the raise. My friend, the
New York politician. drew TO ms Mines
Then the Frenchman and the Californian
dropped out, and it was between the Well
bred EGglishman and the politician. They
raised it back and forth between them
until each had about $150 in the middle
of the table, when the politician with a
queer look in his eye, called. The Eng
lishman showed up his ace full on queens
and yanked down the pot. The politician
slowly rose from the table.
DECLARED HIMSELF.
:. There's fun In being good thing, If
only fer the novelty of 1T, for a little
while, said he, but It's expensive work,
at that There are two people In this
game that / know. and I know they are
playing for amusement regret that /
can't say the same for the three in the
game that I don't know.
1.-The weil-bred Englishman looked at
the politician steadily The man with the
French accent paied slightly and regard
ed the politician with an equally steady
stare. The bearded young man from
California was also agape, but he broke
the spell by smiling and reaching into
his pocket for his cardcase. He extract
ed a card and threw it on the table be-
fore the politician. He was Charlie Fair,
the son of the millionaire senator. The
Englishman, percetYing the humor of the
situation produced his card, too. He was
H. Rider Haggard, the famous English
novelist. entered on the passenger list
under another name. to avoid attracting