The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-21
CRAFTY. KID BEATS SHARPER.
Works n Pistol and Gets Back the
Thousands He Lost.
From the Baltimore Sun.

From the Baltimore Sun.
That was diverting story in the
Washington Post a couple of Sundays
ago about the victim of ocean going
card sharks. who himself marked the
cards and got hunk by making it APP
pear that the swindlers had done it.
but l saw an even more ingenious get
even stunt than that once on one of
the transatlantic liners" said a Wash
ington clubman. Among the passen-
gers on that cruise from New York
TO Southampton was a young Cincin-
natl chap who had inherited a few
thousand dollars and was on his way
10 the other side to blow in part of the
money. Despite all sorts of warnings,
ne sat into two-handed game of draw
with a notorious liner worker. The
Young fellow was one of these would
be foxy lads and he was so enamored
Of his own skill with the cards that he
didn't think the shark breathed that
could skin him at game of draw.
THE sharper got the Cincinnati boy
for his bundle of course-a matter of
SO, 900 or $4,000. But the way the thing
fell out proved that the Cincinnati lad
had plenty of craftiness of his own,
even if he hadn't known enough to
duck a game of poker with man he'd
never seen before.
"The steamer was only half day
out from Southampton when the young
chap lost out on the final jackpot and
found his legacy all in. The excite
ment of the last lose-out had given
his face a fine working pallor. He
nushed his chair back from the table
and stared straight ahead of him out
of bullying eyes in a crazy sort of way.
"'Well,' he gasped hoarsely, its all
off with me. I've got no kick accom-
ing, of course, having lost out in a
fair and square game. But the dough
didn't belong to me. It's my boss
rnonev-he runs a big millinery place
i'm Cincinnati and I'm his chief buyer
aud he sent me on this trip to Paris TO
INV millinery trimmings with that bun
die. I don't dare go back OF course
It's all off with me, of course, and the
only thing left for me is to pipe OUT
that's all
"Ahd with that he yanked a gun
out of his hind pocket and started 10
noint it at his head. The swindler IN
stantlv leaped over the table and
rrasped the hand that held the gun.
The Cincinnati boy didn't know it, but
This sWindler had done nine years in
Dartmoor prison, England, for SWIM
ding. He knew, therefore, not only
the severity OF English prisons, but OF
English law. The steamer was close
to Southampton and he knew that II
his victim shot himself he (the swim
dler) would be held responsible for II
under the English law.
STOW that, you Internal young
whelp! the swindler growled, wrench
ing the gun out of the Withholding
Youths hand and throwing it on the
table. III give you back what you
lost, you miserable cub, ne added In
a sort of panic What the devil d'you
mean by playing cards with money
that doesn't belong to you"
Ion. it doesn't matter; I'm tired
of it all. anyhow gurgled the desper-
ate looking youngster, trying to reach
for the gun.
"His acting was something inn
mense. 1t got the shark going, any
rate. He pulled the gun out OF reach
hauled out his wallet and hastily, with
trembling hands, counted out on the
table the amount out of which he had
cheated his youthful victim. Then he
pushed the stack of bills across the
table. saying:
There you go, you COMPOUNDED tike,
and Won NAV be d glad that you
were playing with an honest and con-
scientiousS man 7or you'd have -aS-lead
pill in your imbecile head by this
time.
The C1nCnndU yOuHSSleI shdCSllCN
the money stuffed it into an inside
pocket, grinned, jumped to his feet,
snatched the gun from the table and
snapped it in the air seven times. The
gun was empty.
Honest and conscientious, h
the Cincinnati lad bawled gloatingly,
and with more audacity than anybody
watching the affair ever suspected of
him. You're just as much of a sucker
and a good thing and an easy mark,
as I've been, that's all, even if you
are a professional card thief working
the steamers. How dye like getting
whip-sawed on a gouge yourself, hey?
Don't you come near me or I'll knock
your block off, and the kid squared off,
showing plenty of sand.
The swindler was a coward, and he
looked relieved when the first officer
appeared just then and dispersed all
hands from the card room. The Gin
cinnati youth wasn't viewed as squeal-
ers usually are. He had squealed, of
course, but he had got away with his