Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-04-25
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY.
THE MAN IN THE
WHITE CRAVAT
rOrigInal.l

west anu the gulf, the steamers plying
upon ii, handsome boats for their time,
carried all sorts of people. among them
the most refined in the land. sin
| gular proximity to mothers and chill
dren were the gambling tables in the
mems cabin, separated from the ladies'
cabin only by curtain.
When youngster OF eighteen, was
sent from Cincinnati 10 New Orleans
to collect n debt for my employers.
Having succeeded, l started back with
| the money, $4,000 in bills, in my mon
ey belt, then common method OF
| transporting funds. L was sitting one
morning OH the guards. viewing the
plantations we were passing, when
gentleman wearing n white necktie sat
down beside me and entered into con
versation. He soon led the subject to
the gambling going on on the boat and
Informed me that there were several
professional gamblers aboard and /
must be careful not to he drawn in by
them to play or would surely be rob-
bed.
Notwithstanding this advice, one of
the gamblers wormed himself into my
confidence, got me to play euchre with
out stakes. permitted me to win, then
made the game for money and won
s., 900 from me before / realized that
1 was in the hands of Il sharper. Then
threw down my cards. Upon raising
my face from the table my eyes light
ed upon the gentleman in the white
cravat standing among n dozen others
who had been watching the play.
MY boy" he said. ''iet me have n
twenty dollar bill. 1 have money OF
my own. but L want to play with your
money and for you only. Perhaps /
may get back some of your losses"
There was n surprised look Oh the
faces of those who stood around the
table, for the man was apparently a
clergyman. l gave him the twenty dol
lar bill with a muttered prayer that
something might come of ii.
"Now. Emory Thorne." he said. 81
propose to teach you the game Of Ell
chre."
How did you know my name was
Emory Thorne?' said the sharper. look
ing al him scrutiniZingly.
Never mind that now. As we pro
coed / may drop hint occasionally
that will put you on the track of my
Identity"
For hours /, in company with con-
stantly growing crowd, watched the
play. Surprising as was the sight of q
clergyman playing with a gambler for
high stakes, ii was more So that the
game was an effort between the two
as to which could do the more clever
cheating. l was not sufficiently quick
sighted to detect their eXpedients. but
knew by frequent expressions of Won
der on the part of the onlookers that
there were exhibitions of genius. The
pile in front of my champion grew
slowly, but surely. now and again
slightly diminishing, but every loss
made up with a gain. The gambler
was the better euchre player. his oppo-
nent the better at cheating. Once when
the latter had made a loss he asked:
when did you see Tom ClarksOn
last, Emery"
The gambler looked up at him with
something like terror on his face, but
made no reply. The cards were dealt
again, and my friend, taking advantage
of having disconnected his opponent,
made stroke of sleight of hand which
gave him all trumps. with both bowers
and the ace, turning a game by which
he gained $500. From this time l no
tieed that whenever he lost he invaria-
bly, threw the gambler off his balance
by some reference understood only by
the two players. At last the clergy
man, looking his opponent in the eye.
said:
81 have a message for you from Alice,
Emery. I'll give it to you when we
have finished the game"
3
covered up outward signs of his emo
ton. 1t was only by the eye that we
knew how he suffered. BY this time
a heap of bills, my employers bills,
were stacked up in front of the clergy.
man, and he was winning with every
game. Indeed the gambler seemed to
have lost interest in keeping the mon
ey: Then my man hastily ran over his
winnings and called a halt.
How much did you lose. my boy?'
he asked me.
''I took from my belt ten bills of
$500 each. $1,000 in all. They are all
gone, besides about $50 had i'm my
pocket"
VERY well; here's your money"
"Counting out S5,O25. he handed it to
me and showed the rest across the ia
BILE to his opponent. Then, rising and
turning to the crowd, he said:
Gentlemen. this has doubtless been
to you surprising sight. l knew this
man." pointing to the gambler, land
overheard him say that the boy had
money with him which he proposed TO
take.
'At an early age 1 developed a taste
for sleight of hand and used to give
private exhibitions to my friends. The
tricks practiced by gamblers especial
ly interested me. and ] took lessons
under an expert professional gambler.
j have no taste for games and never
won or lost n cent in my life"
Then to the gambler: Emery Thorne,
l heard your companion call you by
name when Won were telling him how