The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-09-29
HIGH STAKES
IN SEVENTH

1t has been more than a quarter OF
q century since 1 touched card,
though in my youth the fascination of
| play was so great that nearly my
| whole time was passed that way. said
Mr.. r. T. Lestrange, of New Orleans,
at the Riggs House. AT times l had
been very lucky and occasionally made
heavy winnings. Then there came
period. which has happened in the life
| of all who court tickle fortune, when it
seemed impossible for me to get into
| a game without losing. I lost all my
ready cash, a productive and we'll
stocked farm, jewelry and every arti-
Gle of personal belonging that could be
! converted into money, in all, about
| $40, 900, and when this had been wiped
out I felt the suicidal impulse pretty
strongly. I might indeed have succum-
/ bed to it, but I was young and healthy
and naturally of buoyant spirits.
| I'm those days one of the great games
| of the Southern country was seven-up,
| and the people played it for higher
stakes. I imagine, than they do now.
One day when my fortunes seemed at
| their lowest ebb met a rich young
! sugar planter with whom / had often
| played, and who really loved the ex-
element of the sport more than he did
the money he might win. In all our
previous play, as I remember, he and
/ had about broke even. What he won
from me at one sitting 1 generally re-
covered the next, and vice versa
Though I am sure we had been at
it for five or six years, and never
missed a session whenever he came to
the city, / don't suppose there was
$500 difference in all that time. We
generally began playing for $40 per
game, and often wound up by stalking
S100 on the result. This day he chal-
lenged me as usual and invited me to
go with him to his room in the old ST.
Charles Hotel to play. He hadn't the
remotest idea of my straitened finan-
cial condition, for I still wore as expen-
sive clothes as in my f1ushest days.
Instinctively I felt in my pocket and
my hand came in contact with soil
tary note; it was SO bill, and all the
money 1 had on earth. Something whis-
pered to me to go ahead and play my
planter friend. But prudence said: Bet
ter make an excuse, for if he wins the
first game, you will be broke, and it
will be humiliating to confess your i'm
proverished condition. Besides, he was
as good a player as 1, and I remem-
bered what bad fortune attended me.
well, to cut it short, I defied
prudence and went with him. If I had
been the possessor of the Bank of
England 1 would not have wanted any
greater capital than the lone SO in my
pocket. The first game 1 won and
many succeeding ones, and at the end
of two hours play my opponent owed
me $4,000. Then he smilingly proposed
to play just one more game, which
would decide whether he would pay
me $4,000 or nothing. In other words,
he wanted a chance to get even on this
one game or else to double his indebt-
edness. l knew his check was good
for a great deal more than $4,000, and
yet, broke as 1 was, the $4,000 I had
won seemed like a million, and it look
ed criminal 10 risk it on a single game.
Again something told me to play him
and 1 consented.
In the first two deals he made 6
points while l had but l, and in my
heart I was already cursing my folly, |
for such odds are not beaten once in a
thousand times. While he thus lacked !
but point Of winning, it was my turn
TO deal, which made it even worse for |
me. turned a club, and my opponent |
led out the king of that suit promptly, |
upon which I played the ace He also |
held the trey, but to his great cha grin |
1 had the deuce. AS result T scored /
3 points. making my total 4, while he /
got nothing. It was now his time to |
deal, and again clubs were trumps |
Scanning my hand. saw it contained |
the jack and four, and I promptly |
played. The planer's hand contained /
not a single trump and so the game |
went to me, nor did he ask for any /
further continuance, saying he would |
be revenged at some future time.
with the $4,000 7 thus acquired, I |
shook off the dust of the Crescent City,
took solemn VOW never to play card {
again for money-a vow still unbroken
and going West went into mining in
Colorado. where I met with success
But I often wonder. what would have |
become of me If I hadn't won that /