Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-11-30
A GAMBLERS SCHEME
IT TOOK AN EXPERTS CAREFUL
STUDY TO UNMASk TT.


Some years ago / used frequently to
| attend Eat homes" in addition to CIV
ing lessons in legerdemain to ladies
and gentlemen who amused themselves
as amateurs in giving exhibitions of
their skill at evening parties, etc. Up
on one occasion, it was an "at home"
| ut Lady AS town house, l had given a
display of card manipulation in addi-
ton to other sleight Of hand tricks.
! After my performance / was approach
ed by one of the gentlemen guests.
ALLOW me to congratulate YOU Mr..
Devant," he said. "your entertainment
has given me much pleasure. Your
card manipulation especially interested
me. 1t occurs to me that with your OBJ
vious knowledge of cards and card de-
ceptions you might assist me In per-
| picking affair which has been exercis-
ing my mind for some time. If you
will be so good as to give me few
minutes OF your time / will describe
the nature of this dilemma to you. AL
low me to present my card"
Having signified my willingness to
accord the interview requested, Sir
| George L. escorted me to the conserva-
tory and said
Let me come to the point. While
watching your card manipulation, 1t
| struck me that you might probably be
acquainted with some of the tricks
which are resorted to by card sharpers
and could set at rest some suspicious
| - at
| man whose luck at cards Is prodigious.
l am strongly Of opinion that he Is
nothing more or less than profession
! al sharper. This man l first encounter
ed at the B. club, of which / am a
member. He has been frequent visi-
tor there as guest of young friend
of mine, also member, who has con-
ceived partiality for the skillful card
player and is paying a rather high
price for the acquaintance.
1T is not necessary that I should
state more than that my young friend
is Il man Of ample means, obstinate
to the degree Of pugnacity and not a
little self opinlonated. Although have
tried again and again to convince him
that the luck OF his acquaintance
seems too consistent to be legitimate,
he steadfastly refuses to listen to me.
declaring that he is not to be intim-
idated by little Ill fortune. And SO
he goes on playing-and goes on pay
ing. l have watched the play closely,
but am quite unable to detect any
trick or dodge on the part OF the sus-
| pected man. l cannot, therefore, put
forward anything tangible to his detri-
ment or charge him with any offense.
Whatever his trick may be, 1t must be
very clever one and of a somewhat
novel description. have carefully ex-
amined the cards, some methods Of
marking which have had described to
me, but have failed to trace the slight
est signs of their having been tamper-
ed with. The ordinary club cards are
used. which renders 1t all the more In
explicable how the fellow contrives to
work trickery with them. 1t struck
me that perhaps 1t might be question
OF manipulation, but I could not dis
cover anything beyond the ordinary
handling 1t was while in this dilem-
ma that the idea occurred to me that
you, Mr.. Devant, might be able to
clear up the mystery. May I count
upon your assistanceY
Certainly" / replied. 81 shall be
very pleased to render you what serv-
ice can in the matter"
AS n matter OF fact, Sir George had
! plqued my curiosity, for, knowing a
good deal about card trickery, l was
eager to discover what cunning meth
od of swindling-lf any-the suspected
| man was resorting to.
do you know anything about the
man?' / asked.
every llttle." replied Sir George. Eek
cept that he is known as Mr.. De Lacy,
and is apparently of French extraction,
speaking with n slight accent Beyond
this there Is much that is mysterious
about him. My friend knows nothing
OF him; he Is merely one OF those cas-
ual acquaintances it Is SO easy to make
In this cosmopolitan city OF ours"
"What games does he favorr
"He plays most of the gambling
games, but IL he has favorlte should
think 1t was solo,"
"And In the event Of my discovering
my trlckery, should you make a police
matter OF it?"
"No, l don't desire to do that.
want TO unmask the fellow, expose
him there and then, convince my OBJ
stinate friend and have the sharper
kicked out of the club"
entered into tho affair with zest.
An appointment was fixed up for a
certain evening, upon which / found
myself In the card room OF the II. club,
bent upon creating n scene" There
was n goodly assembly of members
and friends. and the room presented an
animated appearance, with its groups
OF raultlessly attired clubmen gather
cd round the little green topped tables.
/ was invited by Sir George to join In
friendly game, having been already
introduced to his friend, Mr.. ", tail,
dark, clean shaved gentleman. BY de-
sign our table was placed close to that
mt which the suspected man. with Mr.
V. and others, was seated. / was thus
enabled TO watch the movements OF
Dir. De Lacy without exciting suspi.
Il Juhktt pS AShNJ " ~ - @ae~-
turned forty. with u beard which was
beginning to turn gray. rather sparse
fair hair, a somewhat pallid face and
broad shoulders He did not altogeth
er lack n certain air OF refinement.
The play proceeded. I had previous
ly taken the opportunity OF examining
sorue OF the club cards. but had found
nothing in any way suspicious about
them. Our neighbors were playing
solo. ana the luck appeared TO be fuc'
Y tuatlng n good deal, Mr.. V. winning
| occasionally. But this did not last
long and presently Mr. De Lacy began
10 gather IN n rich harvest. I watched
| closely. but could detect nothing to the
| dlscredit of tho suspecto one IL you
except n faculty for winning. Now
and again a half muttered imprecatior
from Mr.. V. told that De Lacy had
once more scooped the pool.
The evening was unproductlye OF
anything practical In the way OF dis
covering trlckcry. yet there was some
thing indefinable about this man Dc
Lacy which suggested fraud TO me and
| which made me more than ever deter
mined 10 solve the mystery OF his won
derful "luck." l therefore arranged e
| attend another night under similar cir
| ctlmgtauccg but even then nothing Oi