The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-24

WV NVptf NNNAHa WIS NNfNHt " NNNNs NfHuA
~ thfss ao-s, even Wbsn thsFu . . pel'
With en-, ~ thetS NA'h't nU,ioiy N N"
tabie VS. hhely h. pat ~ mte' ~ . afsy'
hnent ss'Iu that ~ . aoWi arn'fal fals, hu'
Hlals'lst Waa cRllei, ttvem days, The a'nouihs
es' piaysT In sgathefn Arkansas, al wheH
~ sesH uaRh,Hs was playiH' H''erna "
fsVofltea, 'psesed hae he i"ue . a'tdden
fancy like, " kiaes
'Rg'd play thsrr kings aa'iH UaHsins'a
four dttuNhs afofe Tho dfpw nhT he had
most toJ much rUnhdencp In = short hand,
hut wten n eotnr ~ Tho dtHw aofuehoWs
dtdnt mahs ~ aids Who NHa dsahA's
somehow he'd ratch another hiha, az
then, Aomehow, Hanhina's confidence IN
tham queens "a get n cr'ei blow
They tell mo tina, haptrHed iva ~ ,htee
times, HanhIns tein' a. ! aa,d, one " them
mieHuldsd oOea ~ caat 49, ~ how q aood
thina amt good aa'ln Q tst,ef
Anyway. bs left town tolahle nigh
bankrupt, loaned him hIa boat fare,
sooBer'n 10 have him stay here btoha,
bavih', o. couras. no thought o. Gettln' "
baok but inside II q month he cent me the
monsy, There aln't hothln' wrong abou,
Hankina. on'y his bad judgm~n. . TH.
teiiin' about,
you can't make him zee II, though, an
that's some Hike providentlal. fr he blows IN
hero tol'able regular about onoe, a year with
his accumulated capital In q tight wad, on
once, q year ! have 10 loan him his boat fare.
I reckon, ifanybody was 20 fgger u out care
full, sile Hankins Just about supports three
femilies O. native horn Arkansas City popu-
lation, year In an year out
There were times when old man Green
hut's talk seemed almost prophetic. No
one else In the room had remembered that
Il wa about time for Hanhins's annual
appearance. but being reminded Of II the
gentlemen assembled In the little saloon
on the levee were only mildly surprised
when a. the old man ceased speaking tho
door opened and Hankins and Joe Bassett
walked In.
WELL said the Ozark man. after he had
observed the customary formally and
Greenhut was putting away the bottles
and glasses-"Well, I've come back to have
another try at you fellers. You sure has
done me good an proper afore now, but
there's al'ays things to be learned In draw
poker, an I'm al'ays a-leamin' Of EN- the
best I can. Mebbe I might swat you once
some O. these times
1t was q straightforward, manly speech,
Of the sort to be appreciated by the men
who heard It., and 1t was therefore with q
friendly understanding and the utmost
good will that four citizens sat down with
the stranger to separate him from his money
II possible. He sat between Bassets and
W~interbottom, with Blaisdell on Winter.
bottoms left and Pearsall in the seat be.
yond.
For the first part Of the game It seemed
likely that the house contingent would
have no greater difficulty than usual.
Hankins appeared to cherish his some-
what childish confidence in four Of q kind
no matter what the denomination was.
and showed every sign Of astonishment
when somebody held higher fours. even
when Blaisdeli dealt. Twice or thrice he
came to serious grief in this way.
Then the home players noticed that
sevens were his favorites for the evening.
His theory OF play; as far as they had
been able to gauge it; was that it made not
80 much difference what the cards were,
as how many Of them he could hold, and
there was not a man at the table who
doubted his ability to hold Ave Of q kind
II there had bee 30 many.
His losses for the first hour failed to dis
turb the big man. In that time he played
In more than a thousand dollars, but just as
| they were thinking IL likely that he would quit
the game he reached into an inside pocket
and pulled out another roll, larger than they
had seen him have. Laying 1t on the table
he said, That goes As the game was
table stakes and there was a prospect Of
high play they all pulled out their rolls
and laid them on the table.
For the next three deals there was Moth
TO- otp - tha n NlvNnt Draa xwnn ouuaakAral
when Hawkins took the deck.
Winterbottom opened the pot under the
guns for $40, that being the amount in the
centre. Blaisdell stayed: Pearsall dropped.
Bassett raised It $40, and Hankins made II
$40 more.
W~interbottom looked carefully at his
openers before deciding. They were three
tens and he concluded to stay, though he
did not raise back. Blaisdell saw enough,
he thought, to Justify him In staying also,
and he put up.
Then Bassett made It 500 moro to play;
and Hankins wont, back at him with 5000
more.
1t was too strong for Winterbottom and
he folded, but Blaisdell after q glance at
Bassett, made good, whereupon Bassett
closed the pot by seeing the last raise.
When Hawkins lifted the deck he fumbled
it. They had never seen him do such a
thing before, but they all saw distinctly
that the bottom care was the seven, Of
spades, and this, coupled with the fact
that, he had been playing sevens left no
doubt in their minds that he would have
four sevens after the draw. More than
that it gave them the opportunity Of oon-
vioting him Of crooked dealing in case it
should seem to be worth while TO do go,
It was Blaisdell's first call, and he took
two cards. II anybody had been Watching
all that occurred under the table Just then he
would have seen that Winterbottom was
proffering a king and Pearsall an ace to
the man who presumably wanted q fourth
OF some high denomination. When Winter
bottom showed down his hand to prove
that he had openers, there was no king
among the Ave cards.
Bassett stood pat inc Hankins took two
cards, but, looking as closely as they did,
no one at the table could see that he took
one from the boston.