Evening star., 1901-12-21
A wONiN's VOICE.
Christmas Eve incident I'm n Cripple
Creek Gambling house.

"One Christmas eve. during the lively and
caloric days Of Cripple Creek, I heard a bit
OF music that, beautiful I'm itself yet sound
ed so strange and ircongruous amid the
surroundings whence II proceeded that 1
nave never forgotten it." remarked Colo
rado mining man to a group in one OF the
capitol committee rooms the other after
noon. In order 10 tell the story I've got
to confess that 1 was one of a crowd stand
ing around watching the game in a faro
bank when the incident occurred l can
only condone my situation on the Christ
mas eve by stating that there wasn't much
holiday doings besides faro bank and rum
In Cripple Creek at that time. Every man
IN camp was his own SANTA Claus. and IL
ne wanted any extra Christmas amusement
he had TO go after IL. The faro banks and
the rum mills were about the only plants
that. being lighted up, wore any sort of a
4 aulelae ar. We were watching 'Nogales
sam Arnold whacking Frank Spedson's faro
bank Arnold Was an Arizona gambler who
had been having n lot of luck a-bucking the
cripple Creek banks for some weeks, and
ne was about $1,000 ahead OF Spedson's
game on this Christmas eve. He was win
nlnS right along, and Spedson, who was
mere or less of a hard loser for that section
OF the Country. was chew ng his mus tache
anu gloWering pretty darhiy. Frank was
acting as his own lookout and he gave
offense 10 Arnold by the way he 'rubbered'
at Sans moves. Every time Arnold would
dag down winning stack Spedson would
crane his neck over the layout and look
over the situation suspiciously. and this
sort OF thing hnally got on Arnold's nerves.
Which Ira bound to butt in by re
marking said Arnold at length that IL
this yere's what you might call a old wo-
mans game o draw n straws fr a ging-
ham sunDOnnet, thon / cash in right yere
az this juncLure and pass my seat on to the
next ombIey that S loobin' fr that kind D
toyin'.'
That gos Spedson going. and the two
men had growl for about a minute tha:,
in the nature Of things in and around Grip
pie Creek, could have had but one wind-up.
Those of us who were standing around had
already framed up a bee-line for the exit
by the time Spedsan and Arnold reached
the point where they went for their guns,
and just when we expected to hear the
bombarding we heard somtth ng very diff
ferent 1t was woman Xt door. in Con
shepherds undertaking plant. singing An
gels Ever Bright and Fair They were
holding services in there over Jim Purroy.
who had been shot up the night before by
one of the night marshals for resisting ar
rest. and X was Jims wife who was doing
the sing ng. She was handsome, very
violent woman, whom they called Brooklyn
Flora, and 1t was said that she had been
a choir singer or something like that back
east She had a beautiful voice, anyhow,
that sounded as if il had been cultivated,
but she never sang anything so weird and
strange. and yet so pat and timely, as that
song she voiced over Jlm's dead body in
the undertaking outfit next door to Frank
Spedson's faro bank just at the minute
when Arnold and Spedson were going TO
bore each other.
THE shooting didn't come off. The dealer
tolo me afterward that he'd dropped under
the table when both of 'em had brought
out their weapons. but that when the first
notes from the throat of the girl next
door came percolating through the thin
wood pas tition they just perked up their
ears and showed their guns back where they
belonged, and the dealer. seeing that 1t was
all off. climbed back into his seat. He
found Spedson and Arnold locking away
from each other. each leaning elbow on
the faro table and each h his head in
his hand, listening. The girls voice broke
into sob before she had finished the song,
and when that happened Spedson got up
and quietly said
Cash IN, Arnold. No more tonight. Box
turned