The Sunday globe., 1901-05-05

next day, IL should be stated that the
game was played about II miles from
the town i'm "A kind of an open basement,
( as the proprietor of the hotel, while will
| ing to entertain sporting men, absolute
| ly prohibited gaming on his premises,
! 1.-THE Colonel, in looking around the
, building where he was 'skined, noticed
the root over the basement, and per-
ceived several cracks in 1t. This gave
him an idea of how to get even, as Dad
| had won by the aid of confederate To-
Gated in rear of and above the COloneps
seat at the little table.
proceeding to town the Colonel hunt
ed up a friend who had been broke by
! Dad, aud from this friend he learned who
the celebrated poker player was he had
been up against. When night fell the
Colonel and his companion rode to the
outhouse, and in the loft, above the two
| men, with the aid of tools they had
! brought along tor the purpose, made an
opening wide enough for a person hid
| den I'm the loft to command view OF the
small table underneath, and Of the play
ers' hands, Attaching a string to the
| rafter, the end of which hung gdown along
! the wall, where the Colonel stood fish
ing rod on its end and to cover his de-
sign, he left his companion with a
blanket and TODD in the loft and return
ed to town,
1.-THE next morning bright and early
Dad was on the lookout tor Col. Martin,
and with Dads brOther-in-law the three
men started for the out building In a
buggy to renew the game. The Colonel
took his seat at the small table, and by
a deXt rous move of his foot entangled
/ in the string, thus establishing, uuOb-
served, communication with his man I'm
the loft. Giving the line tug with his
foot to ascertain If his confederate was
on the alert, the COlOnePs heart was
ul la aIlannfr lv a gfnnul
And now the game proceeded. When
ever Dad had a superior hand the string
remained passive, but when the Col
Onel's hand was the superior one, Wig
OrOus tug admonished him to go in
The brother-in-law could not help Dad,
bs the Colonel made il a condition he
should sit between them where he could
see him. Dad was getting decidedly the
worst Of the game, and when the Colonel
called him and won a king high, he lost
his nerve and went to plunging or bluff
fling worse than ever. But the Colonel
steadily called every 'blun Of Dads,
and beat him on the show down. On his
last 500 bill of bank roll that had
reached up in the thousands, Dad bet on
two pairs with certainty of taking the
pot, but the string was jerked so hard as
to pull the COlOnel's foot from the floor,
and his three trays won the last pot and
broke the redOubtable Dad. AS the Col
onePs foot was raised f ON the floor
Dads brother-in-law shot from the table
like a rocket, and, mounting to the loft,
discovered the COlOnel's confederate with
the string still in his hand. He shouted
out:
"'Here, Dad, is a fellow with a string
in his hand He was promptly aaswer-
ed by Col. Martin, who, raising his foot,
answered back:
"'Nes, and here is the other ndarOund
my boot
"Dad acknowledged his defeat ace
fully, and made no sort of fuss, as he
WAS beaten at his own game, which, by
the way, i'm those days enhanced Col.
Martins reputation wonderfully, not
! withstandinR that then as now anu all
his life he has been one of the squarest
sporting men who ever handled a card ~
lone Of the most peculiar experiences
have had in Washington since my resi-
dence here some 30 odd years ago. said
another member of the group OF listen
ers, was while ! was dealing for Col.
Martin when he ran the game on the
Avenue near Fifteenth street before
gambling was prohibited by Congress.
We had many patrons among the mem
bers of the lower House and few Seua-
tors, but among them all a gentleman
representing an Alabama district was at
once the most inVeterate and the most
methOdical gambler / ever met or dealt
CdlhS lOIs IINbIy evening ne appeared
at the house and took his seat at the
table. lie rarely ever spoke, but de-
voted his whole attention to the play.
He was a true gambler, as he never eX-
hibited the slightest emotion over his
winnings or losses. Aud he had losses,
too, for those days of high play. But the
peculiar thing | desire to relate about
him was his: No matter whether he was
thousands behind or to the good, when II
o'clock midnight arrived he rose from
the table, tossed off drink, and left the
room for his carriage around the corner.
He lived out at BIadensburg, and night
lY his driver appeared on the minute for
him, No inducement nor excitement
could detain this peculiar player one
minute after II O'Clock. | have seen his
fellow members and even some Sena-
tors beg of him to tarry an hour, half an
hour, even 10 minutes, but all to no par
pose.
81 discovered that he was very wealthy
and that he had young wife whom he
tenderly loved. To her he had promised
on his marriage that while it was not
possible for him to tOdiscontinue gambling
he would never play a card after mid
night, and being a man of honor, he
kept his pledge, tor the four years be
served in Congress at least