The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-03-24

naturally they made thu most of it.
Wickers wa'n't non too drunk to think
he cd play poker, which he sure could
an tolable well, too, when he were So
Der. an they roped him into a little
game the very first night, after pretty
much everybody else had turned IN.
He'd been shown his wad, kind O
careless, round the bar, an they seen
t he had five or six hundred with him,
so It was worth while to play with lin.
90 course, if he'd ha' struck two
ornery cross roads gamblers with that
wad an the jag he had, they'd ha' did
him up an dropped him an that'd ha'
been the end O his little trip. All as
he'd had to do after, d ha' been to
make his way back home best way he
could, as quick as he could, but Charlie
Abbott, an Jim Beasley, the two sports
I'm speakin' of, wasn't that kind. They
moved somethin' about G~reenville, an
hearin him talk they knowed he was
likely good for a bigger stake n that,
an they played it cunnin'.
Just naturally they trimmed him for
a couple o hundred. or so, just for
travelin expenses, but they let him win,
now an again just SOS to p'serve his
self-respect, an they talked to each
other about the way he was playin' till
they had him puffed up like a balloon,
an by the time they was ready for
breakfast Wickers was thinkin' mebbe
he'd made a mistake about New Or
leans, an London or Paris d be a bet
ter place for him to go to.
well, them two stuck to him till they
landed at New Orleans, an by that time
they'd come to be pals. as Wickers
~oc1yNna1 n-s H. --oJ- l.
thing they said, so, Just naturally
twain. long afore they sprung their
little gam On him. 1t want a bad
one, neither, SEEM what kind of a
sucker they'd caught.
"Pears they'd found out just about
how much he was good for, an they'd
sized him for about five thousand, him
tellin' 'em he had three thousand in
bank, an his old man d stand for about
two thousand more. SO they takes him
round to a poker room, t they RELY
owned, themselves, an introduces him
to a stool pigeon that stood for the
proprietor, an for two or three days
they has some O the most amusin'
games @ draw goin' on, t Wickers a
ever saw. 'Twa'n't nothin' for some
sucker to drop in an lose a thousand
or two in a hour an a half or so, an
just naturally Wickers hadn't no way
@ tellin' that it We're a bogus game, an
there want nobody winnin' nothin'.
They'd let him into the game some
times. an take mighty good care to
see that he didn't lose nor win to nc
great amount. An then, when they
had him het up good an hot, they
sprung it on him that the place cd be
bought out for SIS, 900, an they opposed
for each on 'em to put up one-third, an
buy it.
Nov I amt sayin' tina Wickers
was any bigger fool n any other man
is that thinks his home isn't big enough
for him, an goes out to gather in the
most of the ~surroundin' country for
hisself. Likely he VAN Mos folks
gets more Or less upset when they get
outside O their limits, an mebbe most
anybody a ha' did just what he did,
under the same circumstances. ANY,
way, he did it. He begged for a little
time to get the money together, an
he got it.
Then Abbott an Beasley made an
other proposition. They a the place
was good enough, mebbe, for three, but
'twould be a heap better for two, or for
one, an Beasley suggested that they
play a freeze-out for $4,000 apiece.
Say. You've seen a bull-frog bite
on a piece o red flannel, thinkin' it's
good to eat, havn't you? Well, Wick
ers was the bu1l-frog. He played a
good game-for Greenville-but them
two was the best short-card players in
New Orleans at that time. They say
the game lasted about three-Quarters
Of an hour
"'Tain't RELY necessary to tell no
more. Wickers had got his lesson. But
he had a heap to go through after that,
afore he Cd make UP his mind to go
back home. He got a grub-take FIN
Beasley an Abbott. O course. an he
hung round New Orleans all winter,
an a good part o the summer, tryin'
everything he could, an maxim out
monstrous bad till he got plumb dis
| ~couraged. He told me afterwards that
he come pretty nigh maxim a hole III
the river more n once. But there was
good stuff in him, after all, an he
made up his mind, ruther'n do that,
he'd reform.
There want but one thing for him
to do, as he seen it, an that was to
| finish his edication, an go back home.
Sc he went at it thorough, an practis-
| ed with the cards till he cd do most o
the stunts he seen lone amongst the
| gamblers, for he'd got on a tofable
| good footin' with some on EN-, an
when he felt strong enough to hold his
own, he wiped the New Orleans mud
off n his shoes, n got on the boat fl
Greenville.
Now you can say what you like
about reform. There's a heap o men
that pretend to reform that don't RELY
do it, but oncet in a while you come
acrost one that does RELY do it, an
I'm bound to say that Wickers was
one on EN-.
You didn't never heal no more fin
him about Greenville bein' dull, mol
about him bein' too big a man to stay
in a small town. He settled down tc
home an married a good lookin Wild
der with considerable property an
opened a poker room of his own in the