The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-09-13

Now. however. he had things explained
! To him tina, had been up 10 his time. wholly
! unknown To him 4 code of signals, so
simple a. 10 bc amazing. was among the
/ ,hinys which hplp,.L to make il clear TO him
| why he had been n .onstan loser And he
was shown how hv adapting his play Ia
tina, of one other in tho game he could
make il practically impossible for any
given third party o captui - any given pot.
| "Of course, | knew all about this in a
general way" said he to McSlurray, one
! day. after lc Lad been told all there was
to tell. or, at least all that NIcNlurray chose
| to tell but had no idea Il . thing was 81
simple. wa. always on the lookout for
crooked dealing"
mo frs, class poker layer tries to do
stunts with IN. cards any more" said
McMurray. There are marked cards
! Used sonnet ines but the best players don't
even Use hose
well =" said Kent. slowly "I.s too laie
10 squeal. and IN not going 10 do il. But
can se. what I've been M against ~"
Yes, YOU can. said McMuray frankly.
{ "bu, you went up agains, /, wrh your eyes
! open. You say yourself you knew II in
general way, but were not sharp enough
! TO catch the details. You came here after
my money and ] got yours. Now IN
F, proposing to help you our by putting You
wise. Have you any kick coming
told YOU ] haunt, replied Kent. sui
lenly, and he never Renewed the subject.
Accepting the situation ~ best he might
he became one of the regular snters OF the
house, his duty being to hep f" make up
poker party whichever his services were
| le lured. On such occasions he was sup
pied with the necessary money 70 DuE
chips. and. to do McMurray justice, he
received liberal percentag" on all 'he
winnings he made. l.,
These We're at times considerable W
| amount, and the money that was allowed
to him sufficient tn enable him To i've
comfortably and even, at times; extraN-
aHantly. He was. nevert hcless, unhappy
His moral suicide had been complete,
even before McMu1ay had in'erlere"
with the physical completion OF II; but ne
could not shake of the sense OF his own
degradation, II showed in his nannei
and in his appearance. SO that although
he wore fine clothes Of fashionable cur
he came to be known as Dusty Jim, ~
cause OF his carelefsness ,.-
/ Also ne drank more 1lian was 49, ~, he 10
nun; so Inat McMurray per c1a suI,
ne served ms purpose 'olera1iy WI. t;,me
eyer, and ms employer ceased ai'er h;n r,'''
to bestow any particular attention 10 NM
1T would have been better for him II ne
had done so. More especially wouo "
have been well for him to INQUIRE Wiz
Dusty Jim was doing in. those intervals
sometimes two or three days IN oura''"''
when ne would disappear a1oseIneI In,
As 1t was. ne supposed una, L,us.y "a az
had been on drunk, ana as me ,aller a.
mtteo IL readlly enough tnousn sI' IN t;y,
when accused McMurray colniienueu NV,
TOT STAYING away, ana though' "o HWY
ABOUT H. ~
hent was not always drums hoM;s.e; !,
when ne stayed away. ne was .llah.s
his business, ioT one 'nlng,Np lll'u W.
much as possible about McM,irray Ui,a
ness ana was ny no .p-e,ie 1 ~, py..lthv
ne iearnea INA. ,le ia.'er Mas NV =, h.. hn,
as ne was generally supposea w re. ~
mat, IN fact, a loss OF t"ehIS oI ;no u
hve thousand dollars "ould cr'pl"e' y
not rum nun, :. bic hrs;-
Also Dusty jim was making !. h n,i Hnr
ness to get acquainted WIN mEn-'oi. n,,i
not be likely to be troubled with any sciup.T,
about, getting the pest OF pIols lS
gambler even by questionable methous'
1t took some time for him to ma Jus1
what he was looking for, and all ne ~as
looking for, but finally he succeeded, ann
for some forty-eight hours thereafter lie
remained in seclusion in company WI
sonallv unknown to anybody in Chicago.
excepting himself What passed between
them is entirely matter Of surmlse, n'T
when they parted it was WIN n,, inc ''''
On the evening following Dusty Jims
temperance at McMurrays place after
this particular vacation, the gentleman
from Denver allowed himself to be brought
to the place by one Of the young men about
town who occasionally did good turns 'oI
McM,rray. and without any urging, played
faro for perhaps half an hour. neither win
ming nor losing to any alarming extent.
After time he rose, and, yawning por-
tentollsly, remarked that he never did car"
much about faro, anyhow. but If it was
draw poker now
And the young man who brought hlm w
said he didn't play draw poker himself
but the proprietor did sometimes heh
see if they couldn't start a game. And
accordingly, a game was started:
1t was a five-handed game. McMurraL
and Dusty jim sitting in as matter OF
course, and the gentleman from Denver
who Introduced himself al Mathews. which
was not his name, taking the third seal
Besides these there was Chicago man
named Duffield who was known as Rood
thing, and ano her house sitter named
Charley.
Table stakes, suppose" said McMurray
AZ he made ready to sell chips
well. | haven't any objection to table
stakes" said Mathews coolly, "if yoIl pt'
your whole pile on the table at the start
Otherwise, ! don't like the limit. When
| play poker like to get on: when | can
breathe"
Suits me- said McMurray. who had
sized the newcomer up for a plungcr And
he gave Dusty Jim meaning look.
"My limits thousand" said Duf1leid
Its all have in money, and won't draw
cbacka in a pnkar game