The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-16
THE PETERS TWINS
l. GREAT AT POKER:
A Tale Of the Old Mississippi
Which the Hearer Knew
Was True.

DCuuGN On buO NAAnotAAAPRA AhhN0
Matches. shat sure made me tired. Came
into the bar an hddIed around more n
some, askin' Er this brand o. whiskey an
that, afore he concluded TO take tother.
Poured out four fingers when he'd made
up his mighty mind, an wanted TO pay
with q short bit
THAT want what put me out o. oonceit
with him, though. what stirrei me up
was the way he talked about the river.
Wanted to know what p'tic4af p'ints there
was about In Oh MISSISSIPPI Z was different
I'm any. other river, 'thouten twas cause
twas big.
90. course, 'twa'nt no uss TO explain
tell him somepin' about things Z ussd TO
be did on the boats Z likely didn't happen
nowheres else on earth, years ago.
when I'd been taIkin' to him q spell I
got some het up, count O. the aggravatin'
way he had o. sfurrin' everybody an evcry-
thing, an I told him about the Peters twins.
whstf Didn't y ever hear about the
Peters twins1 Why I reckoned everybody
south o. Mason an Dixon knowed that
story.
.The Peters twins was two short Gard
players that come aboard the old River
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'peared 70 like the boat 20 well tthey stayed
aboard most o. the time, after. . long .
they lived. Cap'n Taft, % owned tho big
Rest half O. tho River Belle. an run her
hisself, was q tol'able fair poker player,
an hadn't no prejudiOes, 'ceptin' he wouldn't
have no hghtin' aboard III boat Didn't
like TO have his saloon mussed UP. an didn't
like the Coroner's Investigations like they
$1,000 - A..m aNNA3 AAA ~ar aNyMFw kfnn0
q man got shot In q argyment-
The old man was accommodatin', though.
II any Of his passenger wal hell bent on
a Dispute, he'd tic up the boat fr half .
hour long side Of q sandbar or whatever
an put EN- ashore.
If ono on EN- d como back on time he'd
put Oh. not askin' no questions, an II they
didn't neither on EN- como back, he'd do
the same thing. Used TO say = half a hour
was long enough to settle any sort OF . dis
pute, an keepin' a boat back longer n that
was q waste O. time.
The Peters twins didn't pear 10 like this
rule. frstof, bein' some hasty, an give TO the
habit O. nghtin' together. an fghtin' quick,
like most O. them big boned Ozark men IL.
They came aboard at Helena, but you cd
tell by lootdn' at EN- t they was I'm tn
Ozarhs.
They looked 20 much alike Z you couldn't
tell Bill I'm Jim, even when they was standin
side o. one another. an they talked alike. an
both on EN- had that way O. walkin' like .
cat, Z you get when you hunt much In the
woods, but they hadn't spent their hull time
huntin'. SIGH poker playin' ~ they did
amt did by nobody 'thouten . heap o. prao-
noe.
while they stayed on the River Belle, an
that were some years, there want no other
p'fessionals had no gre't show in her saloon.
They used 10 say Z was just a. agreeable 70
them TO have p'fessionAls come aboard a.
twas for 10 catch yApS.
I'VE on mako just a. much profit Outen
EN- ~ We can Outen tho yapS, or most
ren'ly moro, NOT TO say nothin' about lee
bein' q heap more fnn,' they'd say, n ]
reckon 'tws'n't fur I'm right.
Il was sayin' as how there couldn't no
body tell Bill I'm Jim, count o. they bein'
more alike n any two men I 0ver seen. but
maybe Jim was q bit moro so n Bill. Any
way, l got 80 I cd most gently tell, after I'd
knowed EN- four or Ave years, ma tendin'
bar on the River Belle them times.
"'PeAred like Jim were more likely to
speak ffrst, n sort o. took the lead, just a
mite, In most everything. Bill. he stood by.
But you couldn't notice nothin' slow about
Bill. Feared like he on'y stood by just SOS
10 make sure I the two on EN- d do the same
thing to oncet, like they sure did.
The poker Z was played aboard the River
Belle while them two was steady passengers
goin' back an forth, I'm New Orleans to
Memphis and I'm Memphis to New Orleans,
was enough to give q O. these here no wa
lays p'fessionals chills an fever. They
must "a had . wad, between 'em, big
enough to buy the boat.
There want no game Z wal too big
for EN-, but the way they gently played
when they cd catch a real first chop p'fes-
sionAl was q thousand dollars, table stakee,
n airy one on en- d shove his hull stack
in the pot 3 quick g he'd throw a white
chip, 4 he seem the other man was any way
doubtful.
Zone night there was two mon como
aboard at Memphis, just as We was castin'
on, n took passage fr New Orleans. l
heer'd later Z they was q couple o Chicago
men I had some Reputation fr KNOWN
some poker, an was lookin' over the
chances o. the river game.
perkins an Foster was the names they
give, but that mought "a been their real
names fr all 7 1 know. Perkins were a
little man, not much bigger n a minute,
but Foster were almost as big as the Peters
twins-one on 'em, | mean.
when II come TO cards, though, there
want nothin' to choose, an I seen I tho
Peters twins had some OF a job curt out whom
they tackled those two No'themers, like
they did right after supper. They seen Il,
too, n l cd see en- look sideways at each
other, oncet or twicet, whom they was gettin'
settled into the game. Later on, you
couldn't tell IL they looked at each other
or not.
First OF, they was some s'prised at the
game.
How shall We mako itT' says jim.
We most gently plays table stakes for a
But little Perkins, he speaks up, In q
squeaky sort Of voice, an he says Z don't
understand, exactly. What do you mean
by table stakes. .ThAt'sa new one on me-
$50, Jim, he says, 1t means you o n
al'ays get a show Z whats In front Of you,
an you can't bet no more'n you have on'the
table. We gently fash q thousand apiece,
an play for that first
But Perkins, he looks disoontented, an
he says, I don't see nc sense in that. I've
got more'n a thousand with me, but |
amt hsshin' my hull ~sd till the time
comes. Do you mean 1 can't bet anything
I damn please, when 1 get cardsT
'0hI all right, says jim, an there want
no more said about that. They zach tool
a thousand in chips, usin' yellers for hum
dreds, an understood that bills was to be
uaad pr hi0 hAka-