The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-22
CAWED OFF MAN
y col COLD FEET.
Bot Only After He Had Won the
Cash of the Star Poker Players
Of Arkansas City.

mysk0ry. Every mothers son on EN-
/'Deared 10 be lookin' f'r somepin' an afraid
70 tell what twas.
First on VIC uns what lived in Green
vile had considerable trouble. more or less.
trying to make out what twas Y they
was lOokin' fer. Mebbe that wouldn't "a
troubled us none il we cd "a sensed any
thin round t was with the s'arch.
"Bimeby we come to knO Z these here
mysterious ones was NO'therners lOOkin'
fr openin's. an alter that there idn't none
ON 'em nave to wait no time afOre comm
TO a understanding. Mostly they'd come
TO town an put up to the tavern an walk
round a bit alter dinner. like they wastakin'
survey.
There wouldn't be nothin' did fore the
next e%venin'. oein' 90 we didn't never hurry
nothin'. but IL We seed the stranger was
liable for to stay there'd be a c'mittee o
citizens wait on him an tell him twas up
TO him to let on what his intentions was
An there van none on EN- ever made
any answer but the one. They said they
was lookin' fr a o~penin'.
Then Bill Haskins. he was al'sys chair
mar OF the c'mmittee. bein' as he wssthe best
speaker in town. he'd say. Well. stranger.
there amt but two industries in Greenville
what pears to be liable 20 OFFER any induce
ments to a outsider. One on EN- lie gettin'
rid o. undesirable citizens an t'Other's draw
poker.
There's a right smart chanst o you
bein' useful in ono on EN-. 'lowin' t you're
in earnest. IL you choose the FIRST you ON
AVE us a heap o. trouble, an the traveNin'
o fair on the No'therly road.
-'If you feel more like tryin' the second
there's a openin' into the game tonight
UP TO Doc Wilson's. But we don't play no
limit game
-Bein' az Bill was somepin' like seven
foot high an some broad in p'portiOn. with
a fist the size Of a ham. there van gently
no greet argument put up. Mostly the
stranger lowed he'd travel. but there was
some on 'em said they was partial to draw
poker an they'd set in.
THAT was how We come to see. bimeby.
a. how this here invasion O. strangers
want no Onmixed cuss. There was some
redeemin' features into il. an one by one
some o. the leadin' citizens begin fer to pay
on their back taxes.
"Afore this here policy o. self-prOtectiOn
had been took up decisive we'd all agreed
10 one thing, bein' as there want no desire
to he hash with these here people. ever II
they was No'therners. We settled it Z
Doc Wilson sh'd take a kitty outen the
game up to SIS an hand it TO the stranger
fr t~raveIlin' expenses when he went broke.
90 course. IL he shouldn't go b~roke-but
there wa'n't no serious approximations
about that. seem Z Haskins IN Pettibone
an Doc Wilson. an Dick Pratt, Z al'ays
played with EN-. was called four o the best
poker PLAYERS in the Southwest them days.
o. course, that meant four O. the best on
earth.
Must a been nigh INTO a year this
kind o. thing went on. most satisfactory.
Mebbe one Outen every four or five o. them
c-arpetbaRgers, as we come TO call 'em
later on, d have sand enough to stay an
play poker. std O. strikin' out on the
no'therly road. like Bill Haskins d give
EN- the choice o dOin'.
But there VAN one on 'em among
them Z STAYED. Z yer got away with any
mOre'n that SIS kitty what was took out fer
EN- scrup'IOus. There wouldn't be moth
in said abOut it to the c~arpetbagger till il
come time TO give il to him, an he was
aI'ays so happy to get somepin' back t he'd
20 away grateful.
THE preacher up to the Methodist Church
come TO hear about this kitty, like every
DO0Y nebTS tDOuJ CNCEyLuiuk III ~ DAHC6
like Greenville. an he preached a sermon
about IL one Sunday. Said il was a sweet
an touchin' manifestation o. true Christian
charity. besides savin' the c'm'unity con-
.id'able trouble an expense. lookin' after
that was broke in their midst.
An ne said il minded him fOrcible o.
one time he was preachin' to a tOlablc
rough congregation in n strange town an
- HE haN tvC,UO1 for a NalI0Cfinn H..
said he didn't get nOthin' in the collection.
but he felt like thankiD' the Lord when he
got mis- hat back,
Then about the time when the game up
20 Doc Wilson's had come 10 be looked on
ms ono o. the regular institutions o Green
willie an we vas all loOkin' out day by
day for new ca~Tpetbaggers TO come To
town there come a calamity, sudden a. a
mules kick. what spread desc latiOn an
DESPAIR n foot thick all over the atmOs-
pherp. Dick Pratt said. Open and above
board. that it made him feel Serious doubts
O. the friendly feelin's o Divine Provi-
dence. an Bill Haskins cussed n blue streak
for two days steady. swesrin' he'd kill the
next NO'therner he seed.
at all some of a little sawed of chap Z
come 70 town some different f'm the way
most on EN- come. seein' he rid a boss an
carried his own saddle bags. like he was
~ome used TO travel. Pears he want
40 he'll rOarin' curious as most on EN-.
neither. bein' as he put up to the tavern an
looked alter his boss hisself afore he get
dinner, an then when he'd et his dinner he
set down on the gallery front o. the tavern
smokin' a big black cigar Z was nigh az
long a. he was Std o rampin' round own
gapin' az things.
I'VE uns was no used TO carpetbsggers
by this time. though, T we sized him up fT
one. him bein' a stranger. an the standin'
c'mittee waited on him next day. 'cOrdin'
10 the regular programme. He act suCkin'
onto another big black cigar an sayin'
nothin'. hut when Bill Haskins begin talkin'
he hooked up sudden an says
Excuse me. gentlemen. Fur be il I'm
! me to interrupt. but let's liquor fust.' An
he Jumps M an leads the a TO abe bar
like q true Southern gentleman.
This here sure was liable for TO stump the
c'mittee more or less. an Bill Haskins he
suffered nome deliverin' hisself O. the pre-
liminary questions. but the stranger. he
called hisself Buck Hilo. he said sort Of
ofhand and hearty IA how he was travellin'
the country lookin' frl some sort o. place
where there'd be a openin' fr a man o. his
talsnt6.
"Speskin' O. this when il was all over