The sun., 1903-02-22
XXIHEN LUCK WAS
w AGAINST SIMMONS,
A Mississippi River Gamblers Re.
vense When He Lost His All
While Playing Poker.

.There's a heap O. talk sometimes about
the bod men that cavorts round some parts
O. the country where faint settled up much.
an does gun play for fun, shootin' up bar
rooms an KILN tenderfoots now an then,
vhlle they're workn' OF the red liquor
they've took. said Caleb Mix, the veteran
bartender on the Mississippi River packet.
City Of Natchez.
.But I reckon that they amt none on
'em any more merry nor the bad men that
useter travel the Mississip' afore the war
Likely q bad man Is bad. wherever
he Is, an ALT he needs Is chanst o hurtin
somebody. Pears like everybody thdt
tells about 'em. though. was p'tio''er about
pickin out somethin' decent they've did.
one time or another an maxim that the
nub O. the story
.Mebbe there Is times that the worst
on EN- turns half way decent for spell
amt a sayin' 'taint 30. but I've never
saw nothin' to make me think you can
count on II.
III a mans re- ly bad the on'y safe way
TO treat him is Like you'd treat ratte-
snake II you was quick cno' 8 shoot ms
head Of the minute you seen him beg'nnin
to coil hisself for a strike. They amt RELY
no way o. fehtin' fair with EN-. for they
won't fight that way an the world amt
never rid Of 'em till some feller is quick
enough TO play their own game on EN-.
1--WE saw q good many on eIn first an
last, on these bosts, an ! never knowed
one on IN to do a reel decent thing yet,
thouten he reckoned TO get the beat o
! somebody doin' II. Gamblers? Yes. The
most ON em was gamblers. An they was
men that never sat at the table wi;hou, n
gun In their pockets or a knife In their
boots. just where thcy cd pull it sudden.
There was one fellor that come from
New Orleans, 80 they said, that travelled
the boats a good deal, just afore the War,
that come us near bein' sure-enough devii
az anybody ] ever soen. never hear
none O. these stories about bad men 'thout
thinkin' O. him, an a thing l seen him do
in a poker game one night.
He called hisself Harry Simmons. an
mebbe that might ha' been his rec! name.
don't know. But there was them I said
his old man made him take another name
when no paid him fifty thousand dollars -
get out an never have nothin' more TO do
with his own folks.
He we're q tall, slender, wiry devil with
jet black hair an one blue eye an one that
was sort O. gray green. You couldn't
never forge, his face If you seen il once, He
we're a dandy. like most o the top-notch
river gamblers was them days, an we're as
pitcher as a woman about his clo'es.
AN he wore jewelry like the rest on
'em did, that was more like woman's
than "A mans. But you didn't want to make
no mistake about HIM bsin' womahlih
when it cane to tight or game o draw.
when it was card playin' he were as
steady a. q clock an took chancee that q
make tight-rope walker gray. headed:
An when il was light, he were bundle o
wildcats, with about as much pity in him
They was playin' hard game one night
when the boat come up toward Vicksburg,
an II were a sure case o dog eat dog Tor
there want a sucker on the boat that any
OF 'em tho ught was worth the trouble o.
catchin', au' three on em was playin'
together-al professionals. an all three bad
men.
Simmons was the worst o the lot but
George Masters, a Vicxsburg man, and
Billy Eaton, a feller I'm Texas, was both
ugly customers for any man to run up
against thouten he had his gun in his hand
full cooked.
Il reckon the game was as straight as
any that was ever played for there want
none O. the three u ha' dast to turn a
crooked trick on either o the others, 'thoute !
he was don' ii for fight, all on EN- KNOWN
that the others was as clever as he was
an Just az ready to shoot.
They was playin' heavy game, though
for they was all well fixed. an any one on
'em stood to lose eight or ten thousand
afore goin' broke. They had chips on the
a roll O. big bills in front of him, an the
bettin' was well up in the hundreds when
! ever there was more'n one good hand out.
Luck run against Simmons for the hrst
hour OF so. an IL were easy to see that he
were gettin' ugly, not that he said any
| talkin' to speak Of, but his eyes looked
wicketier'n usual, an his jaw was sot like
a steel trap. He were playin' monstrous
| cautious, though, an hadn't lost morc'n
| three or four thousand when he seen, or
| thought he seen a chanst o gettin' back
! a good part Of il.
TT were Masters deal an a jack pot
with $50 In it. Simmons had first say an
| he d ned II f,r the size I. Eaton c M in
A. Masters raised II thirty. Eviden;ly that
| wee lust what Simmons was lookin' for. for
| he raised 1t ff more. an then Eaton took
| a whack at IT,
Il reckon he hadn't raised on the frst
| round, for fear o scarin' Masters out, but
fly Then Masters histed il a hundred,
an simmons made II a hundred more.
so Eaton, havin' a small straight, kind O
hauled in his horns, an just trailcd.
| He trailed a couple o times more while
Simmons an Masters was boostin' each
other a hundred at a clip. but seeing he
were out Of his depth he folded on the third
raise. an the Others KEEP on till they had
two thousand apiece in the pot,
Then Simmons just made good an when
Masters ast him how many cards he wanted
ne said he reckoned he'd play what he had
SO Masters. he stood pat. too. both on on.
having fours. an both reckonin' on foolin'
the other.
ut helm Simmons's bet he put thousand
dc LA . in tho pot. an Masters says:
IN see your thousand an bet you a.
much more Us you've got
Il stood near Simmons. an ] cd hear a
sort o. click that thought first was the
click Of a gun, but ! seen he had both hands
on the table. so reckoned it must ha' been
his jaws. Anyway they was clinched
when he answered, an he spoke through
his tasth. sayin'
Make your bet
well, O. cou"~ Masters couldn't make
him tell the sizA Of his pile aforchand, SC
he showed his own pile forward. him havin
considerable moro in sight than Simmons.
well. how much il thAa2' says Simmons
an Masters had to stop an count it. II
took minute or so, an when he was done
L -