The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-05

When he seen what I'd did he sort o
groaned. an he says Mr. Greenhut, AZ
understan' this here case, It's charity, an
the Good Book says Charity oovereth a
multitude o. sins so | reckon maybe ! m
justified this once II ] do stray from the
! broad an narrer path
1 reckon you be- says, an he sets
/ down 'thouten any more talk.
We'll say! If I'd knowed as much about
how much the Rev Eliphalus Knobba
/ knowed about the game o. draw poker
! aforo he set in "a | knowed a little while
alter he set in. I'm free TO say reckon / d
/ ha' gone some slow about ropin' him in.
| Az ] was IA yin. all this here took place a
| good while ago. afore Arkansas City had
/ took first place AZ the real home o draw
I poker We hadn't no such reputation
! them days as we has now, not havin' never
done nothin' to earn il. We played fair
game. some on us. | used to play myself
them days. But there WIN INT no such sys-
TEN then as has been built up since an
the local talent hadn't found out how to
depend on one another.
The Rev. Elphalus knobhs had took $50
worth, like the rest o US. an he didn't ma Ike
no kick about dollar ante when we began
payin' but | noticed he we're almighty
careful about comm in. Feared like he
studied some afore putin up his money,
an two or three times he throwed his cards
away a ter he d studied quite spell. Looked
like he were timid player, an ben as he
was chippin in a dollar at a time when he
had TO an not takin' in nothin'. reckoned
on his first fifty bein' easy money anyway
Come jackpot alter about half hour
o this. an EHphalus knohbs he set on the
dealer left He looked at his hand an
passed. an | settin' next opened 1t on
three deuces. There was two others come
in an then 1t come to Eliphalus Knobbs
again. an he RAISED Ii Ave dollars. we
Well | looked at my three deuces an
fggered they was worth five dollars with
two cards comm IN the draw an sonepin
like thirty dollars in the pot already. so
seen the raise Winterbottom he laid down,
but Bassett he We're the other man that
had come ln-he made good. 30 there was
forty In the pot
Then Eliphalus Knobbs he took one
card an let it lay in front Of him. took
two an Bassett took three 40 | fggered
he had aces. looked at my two an seen
l had pair o tens. 80 Clipped chip,
reckonin' on raisn' back when Elphalus
Knobs raised, bein toPable certain t
he would.
Pears Bassett had caught his third ace,
an he raised il ten Then Eliphalus Knobs
he didn't say nothin'. but just showed what
chips he had left right into the pot We
counted EN- an found he'd made raise
o. fourteen dollars Bein' as he hadn't
looked at his draw yet reckoned it were
a good place for my pile, an showed in
about forty dollars, but Bassett didn't
feel none too strong. an he dropped so ]
had n rakedown bein' az ! couldn't raise
Eliphaus Knobs when his chips was all
in
Then that reverend pirate turned over
his draw an showed twas ten spot Then be
showed his other four cards an they was
tens up An even then didn't see through
his play Peared TO me he'd made al
mighty big bluff on two pairs rpck onin
d size him up for f6urs an as how his
draw Il been nothin' but dumb luck,
But after the Rev ENphalus knobbe had
m 1de two or three more plays as remark
able as that. an had pulled out O. the game
with some four hundred velvet. sayin' as
how his little hockd look on his winnings
as a godsend. we t had been playin' set
lookin' at one another. sort o. foolish
an not knowing whether to go on OF. not
They kind o. put it UP to me, an / Gays,
Il don't zee no use o prolongin' this agony
l says, We uns has fell into the hands O.
the spoler an he's done spoiled us. We've
got the kitty, though. an that's enough
to git clo'es Tor Philetus Fraser which
it sure was. there bein' seventy-hve dollars
into II So the game broke up.
-Philetus Fraser had set by all the time
sayin' nothin but watchn' keen The
Others went out one at time, leavin me
10 fix things with the benefactuary o. the
eyenin'. me havin' the kitty.
dv Theq lb he ia s %s says Mr. NG FE.eI
There's seventy-fye dollars here. Fifty o
that goes TO the house, an here's your
twenty five. Thatd oughter get you
outfit
He didn't say nothin' till he'd got his
hooks on the twenty-five. Then he said
Much obliged TN get a outfit, all right
bat I'd like to talk business with You
What kind o. business | says. /
don't sell nothin but red liquor, I says,
but O. course, if you want 10 go shy on
some o. y'r clo'es for the sake o necessi
ties en- serve you to that
But ne said no. Feared he didn't care
none about drinkin' just then. But he
says ! reckon you uns don't know much
about poker round here That Eliphalus
Knobbs Teller got away with you dead easy.
He sure did have good luck | says
But Philetus Fraser said: Luck nothin'.'
heavin in cuss word for good measure
He was markin the cards as soon as he
set in he says, an he knowed half the
deck in twenty minutes. Didn't you know
he knowed he was goin' to git that ten spot
he beat you out onY
Then | begin TO see white light, an
! says How come you didn't say nothin'T
But Philetus Fraser, he grinned an
he says / was Interested in the kitty. an
besides. | don't never interfere with no
gentleman's play thouten I'm playin my
self But now look here. How much o
that four hundred do you want, If go an
~ln it back O. course. you'll have to
stake me This twenty-five has to go for
clo'es. an I'd want more than that any
how, 10 make good sized game
But how do know you en- win it back?
| says
How did know he'd marked the cards.?
says Philetus Fraser. an he went over to
the table an picked up the deck we'd been
playin' with. Spreadin' il out face down
he began calm off one card after another
an turnin EN- over as he called EN-. He
on'y made one mistake outen twenty -hye
or thirty cards Then he showed me the
marks Little scratches, they was, here
an there on the backs
i knowed because ] teached him the
trick says Philetus Fraser This here
gospel sharp is a p'fessional' he says an
learned all he knows FIN me. He don't
know me now. bein' as look some different
m what ] did afore my hair an beard was
burned on. they not havin' time 10 grow
out again, an me havin' got good natured
niger 10 shave me while ! was sick But
| knowed him, soon as I seed him ! don't
know what his lay is here. but more n likely
hes been looltin' FIR some such chanst as
he got tonight
We'll. twant long afore | seen sense
into Phletus Fraser's line O. talk. an |
made it up with him 't'I'd stake him 10
hundred an low him that an a hundred
more II he'd get Eliphalus Knobbs into
game an do him up 'More'n that says
we'll divide even on all you win over an
above the four hundred Likely he's got
a fair sized wad about him
-Phletus Fraser greed 70 il an the very