The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1900-05-13
HE BET ON THE SEVEN
A GAMBLERS SCHEME THAT WORK
ED WELL FC7' AWHILE.
He Forgot One Very Important
Thing. However. and His Last
PIunEInE Wager Brought Ruin
and Tragedy In Its Wake.

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 he numbered on the fingers
of Que hand. The owner is even now,
when past middle age. good fellow"
who loves convivialiIy. and no game is
too hazardous for him if he has the
amount of the stakes. He takes pleas
ure in telling the history OF his serv-
ice, as il 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
crowd OF men, English aud natives.
whose passion for gambling knew no
bounds. Strange as it may seem, none
of them knew poker. and 1 made my
self solid with them by teaching them,
but their great game was roulette.
There was 4 little shop in BoGota,
where they had Il 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 il was spun around
a cover was put over the machine so
that they could keep on betting when
it had ceased 10 turn
There Is worm down there in
! that climate that gets into furniture
and borcs until nothing but 4 shell is
left. You may sit on 4 chair that
looks perfectly strolfg. but at the first
touch it collapscs. This seems irrele-
want. but it is not. rs you may see
later. In fact, that worm plays the
title role in the tragedy | am going to
tell.
There was Il wealthy Bolivian plant
er who had been n 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 bet larger than So
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 hc could find TAX
Crs 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 ihat when ne played T.
black he could not lose. and he seemed
to realize it. for when he did call that
number lie would put all he owned in
the balance.
still hr was 4 gentleman and a IA
nous duelst. and no one cared 10
question his methods. IL went on this
| N
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 n mandolin.
The planter leaped up as from cata-
IepSv: 'Seven-black. seuores. ] will
take all any of you or all OF you will
bet Well, | hal been winning strong
and was so much to the good that L
was reckless.
"'Five dollars | said
"'Good. scnor.' he replied
"He placed his entire fortune in Diff
fcrent wagcrs. There We're Il number
/ of strangers present. and they all
seemed big flush. Then slowly, as 4
priest officiating at some solemn, bar
, barrie ceremony. the banker removed
the TOP. We all stood for n moment.
and the tension was such that car
riage wheel or 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. I am ruined
THAT night he shot himself, and his
I will. which had been written just be-
fore his death. arranged for the pay
ment or all his debts. ! was TO re-
ceive the service for my share. though
it is worth much more. But what
!. valued much more than that was 4
II note in which he expressed his attach
ment for me and asked me to accept
the silver as n gift and not debt
ssIIe left also curious manuscript.
written some time before, which seem
ed to be a sort of private journal lie
stated in this that his ears were so
accurate that he could detect the diff
ference between the fall of n pin and 4
needle. One night, so he says. he heard
the ball fall into the compartment with
n hollow thud. ard when the machine
was opened he made note Of the mum
bcr and color. '1-black.' Later. when
alone for a moment, he found that the
aforesaid worm had bored under that
commandment. He sounded the excaVa
ton with straw and found that i
extended no farther than that one
number. Then all he had to do was
to listen and when his acute hearin;
told him that his number had come Il
re get all the money possible on it.
- Yes. gentlemen. lie had all his planl
, laid to perfection. There was only ont
"a weak spot in his calculations He for
got that those worms could keep oI
boring."-Louisville Evening Post.
Not RcspOnsible.