The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-06-19

h44e"cd DtllcT, Dul IVAN no use 10
argue. Twa'n't in him to more'n a
do anything, an when he got so s t he
cd deal off n the bottom o the pack,
an hold out an ace, an do one or two
other stunts in a way to do himself
some credit, he 'peared TO think he was
the whole thing, an all t he a to
10 was to make his fortune.
l oulfrh, etaoi shrdlu cmfwyppp pup
Just naturally there was some in
town that knowed how to play poker
tolable we'll, an want afraid to give
Hankins all the practice he wanted,
an them bein' on the lookout FIR all
his little pecooliarities in playin' they
give him all he cd stand up with to
keep even with the game. Once in a
While he'd got a hold O. some stranger
t felt sporty, an he'd get away, maybe
with the strangers wad. SOS t he got
quite some praise for bein' q credit 10
the community s far as that went. |
but there want many strangers come !
there hit bein' a small place, an ne,
knowed he wouldn't never mount TO
much 'thouten he travelled. If he'd
been contented to work along the way
he was doin' till he'd finished his eddi-
cation, like he'd been advised to 10.
l amt a sayin' but what he mought ha'
been a tOl'able good crossroads samb-
Ter at that, but as l said, that want
Hankinses way. He got all pulled up
with what little ne did know, an he
sized hisself UP for bein' ready for
business when he was RELY just comm
out o the infant class. So, first any
body knOwed. he started out for hisself,
an he want never seen in the town
no more.
Their was some circumstance con-
nected with his goin' hat KEEP every
body houten twas his old mother.
FIN feelin' bad about it, an
nc a matter ~ foot ~ u-o'nt raai1- no
foolish thing for him to light out just
at the time he did. There was some
on us in town that was apt to be sort
o hanty we was riled, an We
was loOkin' for Silas T. Hawkins with
some diligence the day we herd them
circumstances. L don RELY n but
what he mOught ha' been tarrei an
feathered if we'd ha' hound him, but
we didn't, him havin' lit out, as I said.
Thar was a poor old half-witted
Teller. name o Jim Clark, that lived
in town. an used to do all sorts of odd
jobs for people that hadn't no nigSers to
work for 'em, just for his grub an a
few drinks now an again. He were a
harmless critter an everybody pitied
him an was good to him, an when
he come into a matter o two or three
hundred dollars, his brother dyln' over
into a neighbOrin' town. we was all
kind o glad o. Jim's luck, thinllir' he
cd spruce VI an be somebody.
Well. h next day after he got his
money. he told somebody he'd lost it
all, an when he was questioned he said
he'd been drinkin some with Hawkins,
an they'd played poker. an Hankins
had Won his wad. Just naturally we
went lookin' for Hankins as I said. an
when we went to his mothers house
where he lived, we found the old lady
with her head all tied up an just about
able to walk. She didn't like to tell
US anything. but we got it out of her
after a while that Silas had beat her
all up with a club becuse she wouldn't
give him all the money she a in the
world. an then he'd o the money.
That tar was kept ready for some
few days while we was Ookin fer
him, but We found after considerable
lOOkp' that he'd took boa do " the
river I'm New Madrid, m as I was
in he never come back no more.
'Twa'n't for some years that l even
heerd anything about him, an then 1
run across ale Mix, that was bar
tendin' then on the old Creole Belle,
an he ole me what became o Han
kins.
"'Peared he come aboard in some o
q hurry. just as the boat was castin'
off. mn made considerable of j talk
about not fndin' his baggage aboard.
Said he'd sent it on ahead, n had
been delayed his own self, but Mix
says he sized it all up for a bluff. an
come to the conclusion that Hankins-
for he give his right name-was run
min away I'm somepin'. However,
'tw'n't nObOdy's business if he was, an
nobody interfered with him. seem he
had money an paid his fare.
"Pears he went lookin' round the
boat kin O. nXiou like, oon as he'd
been aboard long enough to geI used
to it, an 'twa'n't no ways hare TO see
t he We're q greenhOrn, sure enough.
Mix told me the whole story, an tcid
me how he felt kind O sorry for Han
kins. but when I told him wha- I
knOwed. he said he eckOne he
wouldn't set up nights no more, griev-
in over it.
There was another man on the boat
that looked and acted as green as
kins did. but was quite some older than
him. You'd ha' thought to look at
him that he was a well-tO-do old farm
er that had never been away I'm home
afore, but Mix knowed him for a fly
gambler that used to travel the river
like the rest. lookin' for suckers. only
his game was to play greeny an let
the sucker propose to play. His name
was George Besson an he were one
o the best short care players on the
river. them days.
'0h' DeSSOh SpotleO I1dIIh4uS IIoh-
IN round an he got IN his way. kind
o accidentally on purpose, an let
HanklnS make his acquaintance. They
took one or two drinks together, an
'twa'n't long afore Hawkins proposel a
game o cards which. O course, was
just what Besson wanted. an after
some game o talk. he let hisself be
COaXed in.
Pears Besson was a fighter. n u
bad one. One o his favorite tricks
when he got into a deep hole was to
make some sort of a beef about the
other fellow cheatin'. an then when the