Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-05-30
He BET on THE SEVEN
A GAMBLERS SCHEME THAT WORK
ED WELL FOR AWHILE.

I
PIunEfnG Wager Brought Ruin
| and Tragedy In Its Wake.
A gentleman who lives in the Blue
! Grass and who has been a very ex-
| tensive traveller has silver service SO
| magnificent in design and heavy in
| weight that its peers in the whole
world may be numbered on the fingers
of one hand The owner is even now,
when past middle age, a good fellow"
who loves conviviality. and no game is
too hazardous for him if he has the
amount of the stakes. He takes pleas
IRE in telling the history OF his serv-
ice, as it concerns the most audacious
game of chance he ever witnessed.
When L was in Bolivia some years
ago. he always begins, Il got in with
a crowd OF men. English and natives,
whose passion for gambling knew no
bounds. Strange as ii may seem, none
Of them knew poker, and l made my
self solid with them by teaching them,
but their great game was roulette.
There was a little shop in Bogota,
where they had a miniature Monte
Carlo, and many nights did we spend
around the great wheel. with our mon
ey and prospects hanging on the black
or red. The wheel was entirely made
of wood, and when it was spun around
a cover was put over the machine SO
that they could keep on betting when
1t had ceased to turn.
There is a worm down there in
that climate that gets into furniture
and bores until nothing but a shell is
left. You may sit on n chair that
looks perfectly strong, but at the first
touch it collapses. This seems irrele-
want. but it is not, as you may see
later. In fact, that worm plays the
title role in the tragedy l am going TO
tell.
There was Il wealthy Bolivian plant
er who had been a general in the war
between Bolivia and Chile back in the
early eighties. He was never absent
a night from our games. but he would
frequently stand about for Il week and
never make a bet larger than $40.
Then he would suddenly cry out just
as the operator was about to lift the
cover and register the highest bet the
house would permit. Next he would
place all the money he could find TAX
ers for among the gentlemen present.
Before the season was far advanced
he had won great sums, and we had
all felt the results of his freakish luck.
1t seemed that when he played =
black he could not lose, and he seemed
TO realize it, for when he did call that
number he would put all he owned in
the balance.
Still he was n gentleman and 4 ia |
nous duclist, and no one cared TO |
question his methods. 1t went on this |
way for two months. Then one night |
the wheel stopped, and there was the
silence of the prairies in the room. |
We could hear the ball fall into the
compartment distinctly. We could |
hear the distant tinkling of a mandolin. |
The planter leaped up as from Il cata-
lepsy: 'Seven-black, senores. l will |
take all any of you or all of you will /
bet Well, had been winning strong /
and was so much TO the good that l /
was reckless.
"'Five dollars l said.
"'Good, senor.' he replied.
He placed his entire fortune in diff |
ferent wagers. There were a number |
of strangers present, and they all
seemed big flush. Then slowly, as
priest officiating at some solemn. bar
barrie ceremony. the banker removed
the top. We all stood for a moment, |
and the tension was such that a car
riage wheel on the cobblestOneS out
side made us all start. Red came /
the announcement.
''The Bolivian was white as snow,
but his voice was mistaken as he said:
Gentlemen, you shall all be paid. AS
for me. am ruined
THAT night he shot himself. and his
will, which had been written just be-
fore his death. arranged for the pay
ment OF all his debts. l was to re-
ceive the service for my share, though
1t is worth much more. But what i
valued much more than that was a
note in which he expressed his attach
ment for me and asked me to accept
the silver as a gift and not a debt.
HE left also Il curious manuscript, |
written some time before, which SEEM
ed to be a sort OF private Journal He
stated in this that his ears were so
accurate that he could detect the diff
ference between the fall of a pin and
needle. One night, so he says, he heard
the ball fall into the compartment with
4 hollow thud and when the machine
was opened he made note of the num-
Der and color, 'T-black' Later, when
alone for a moment. he found that the
Aforesaid worm had bored under that
He sounded the excava-
ton with a straw and found that it
extended no farther than that one
lumber. Then all he had to do was
TO listen and when his acute hearing
old him that his number had come to
get all the money possible on IL.
Yes, gentlemen. he had all his plans
aid to perfection There was only one
weak spot in his calculations. he for !
rot that those worms could keep on |
oriug."-Louisville Evening Post.
Not Responsible.