Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1900-09-15

THE two men approached the card
table reluctantly, without that
eagerness shown by most persons about
to sit into game of poker. These men
seemed burdened almost by the famous
weight of centuries" that NJ. Millet
and Mr.. Markham exploited with so
much sorrow and profit. After they
had sat down, they did not take up any
pack of cards. Though there were no
cards on the table, they began to bet
sadly, as if their hearts were not in what
should have been a pleasure to both
though profit to only one.
81 raise you one cent" sighed John
Oxheart, the third of that name. And
his friend said, gIoomily:
II see you and go you one better"
81 raise you the limit" remarked
Oxheart, and George Flint the third
again replied:
Il see your raise and raise you all
the way"
So the game went on until ten bets
had been mades In one corner of the
room sat an intelligent stenographer,
who in an old-fashioned notebook had
been taking down each bet as it was
made. He now closed the notebook
laid it on the table, and retired.
Thirty-six years ago Col. John Ok
heart, of the Ninety-seventh Virginia
fell at the head of his men on that
bloody field of -. Every student of
! American history knows full well the
battle to which the writer refers. BY
his side fell Lieut.. Col. Flint. Their
deaths ended the first act of the com
edy that became almost a tragedy.
Eight years earlier, in 1856, these two
gallant Virginia men had met at q
friendly game of cut-throat poker.
Their names expressed their charac-
tiers. When not troubled or thwarted,
nothing could be more lovable than
these two gentlemen. But cross them
in anything, however little-the hitler
the better-and they became wild
animals. Thousands and thousands OF
slaves had these gentlemen struck
down, manned, dying, even dead, when
angered by some trivial fault. Each
had only one son surviving out OF
large families, the wives and other chill.
dren having in both families died of de.
cline superinduced by ill-treatment
Yet these two gentlemen were loving
and respected neighbors.
So, to while away dragging hour,
they sat down to pay poker. The linn
/. it was five cents; simple minded chill
dren of nature, they did not make the
limit too high. They played merely for
amusement; the money in the game af.
fected them not. So they began. After
an hour or so, when Maj. Oxheart had
about eight cents of Col. Flint's money
(they had not then their final military
titles) il was the majors turn to bet.
He bet the limit; and the captain saw
him and raised the limit. Two or three
breathless minutes passed during
which each in turn saw his friend
raise, and raised it. There must have
been $l.5s on the board.
The major evidently took in i'll part
the pertinacity of his friend.
"Yeh betteh drop out, George" he
said. I've got yeh kilt"
''Iwon't drop outyet awhile sch, an.
swered Flint. It'll take moh'n yeh
have to kill me-"
Don't yeh reply to me in tina tone
O. voice, seh!" cried the major, an
grily. I'm wohnin' yeh TO YOU health,
sehl"
Il thank you, seh," answered Flint.
sarcastically; I'm suht'nly everlast-
ingly obligated to yeh, sch; but can
stay you hand out"
The major swore a great oath that
he could and would beat the captains
hand, and both friends glared angrlly
at each other across the table. They
stood like that for so long that the
hotel keeper, aroused at the unwonted
quiet, entered the room to see what was
the matter. He called help; the two
friends, who had become almost cata-
leptic, were taken apart, and trouble
was averted for the time. But Capt.
Flint bade the tavern keeper to seal
his hand of cards in a package, ant
saw it done before he left the hotel.
Maj. Oxheart saw his hand sealed in a
similar package.
A few days later the two friends
met again, and after some talk re-
turned to the game. The hands, still
sealed up, were produced by the hotel
keeper, and the game began where it
hadleft off. Disagreement again broke
up the game, and again the boniface,
Col. Carter, took charge of the hands,
sealing them in second envelopes. So
for five years the game went on, never
finished, and at each separation Col.
Carter sealed the hands in additional
envelopes.
The war interrupted the friendly