The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-04
Burro Could Play Poker

I terested observer. Somehow or other
Paddy's luck was invariably good He
seemed to know just when to stay in,
| lust when to stand pat, or just when
to call His winnings were never very
big. but when he got up he always
had a few dollars more than when he
sat down
after a while when Paddy and his
burro became more or less familiar in
the camps, this uniformity of his luck
began to be noticed and wondered at,
and in course of time it occurred to
some one that the burro might have
something to do with it. 1t was OBJ
served that Wolftone Invariably stood
at the side of the table opposite his
master, and that he watched the game,
apparently with as thorough an I'M
Outstanding of its points as any other
spectator. 1t was also observed that
he had a peculiar way Of wagging his
ears at such times, and after close
study the observers reached the con-
clusion, startling as it was, that Wolf
tone knew the cards and signaled his
opponents hands to Paddy. For in
stance, they found that when the bur-
TO drew both ears in front twice in
succession 1t turned out that the play
er by him held two pair. When he
threw down one ear three times, one
of Paddy's opponents had three aces.
Throwing both ears back appeared to
be the sign of a full house, and a
straight flush was a forward and back.
Made the Burro Drunk.
1T was at Creole, 1 believe, that this
discovery was made, and three of
Paddys victims who had made the
discovery entered into a conspiracy
to get even. Wolftone had become by
this time a confirmed usher. He had
to have his bottle as regularly as Pad
dy himself and the conspirators took
advantage of his appetite for. strong
drink to the undoing of his master.
They got about a gallon of the cheap
est stuff they could buy, and, slipping
into WOlftOne's comfortable STALL in
duced him to imbibe until he could see
anywhere from six to ten men instead
of the three actually there. Then they
left their vengeance in the hands of
fate.
That evening they got Milligan into
a game Faithful but erring Wolftone
was on hand just as usual and appar-
emily as sober as anybody. They
played a pretty stiff game right from
the start, but, much to Paddy's sur
prise and chagrin, he lost. The burro
was wigwagging to beat the band, but
the wires seemed to be crossed. When
Paddy thought he was playing against
lone pair and had a sure thing he
found on the showdown he'd been
bucking four of a kind, and after he'd
pulled out on flush signal he learned
that his opponent had nothing better
than ace high.
Betrayed by His Friend.
Sure, an the diviI himself is in the
cards. l niver played in SIGH luck in
me loife.' he grumbled. and then he
broke one of his inhexible rules, which
was never to dring while he played.
The more he lost the more he drank,
and the more he drank the madden he
got. He insisted that the limit be
pried off, and then he bet high and
wild. At the time Wolftone was doing
his level best to get things straight,
but he could see that something was
wrong; and the harder he tried the
worse they appeared to get. At last
Paddy had lost every cent he had, and
then he put up the burro, the loved
companion of many years.
It's betrayed me We have, he
says, an We might as well go in with
the rist.'
And go in with the rist' he did
In ten minutes more the ownership OF
Wolftone had passed to the conspira-
tors, and then Paddy flung his empty
cient friend
Take that, We twist-eared divil,' he
cried, and staggered out of the saloon.
Then, gentlemen, most remarka-
BILE thing happened. All of a sudden
the burrO seemed to come to his
senses and to realize not only what
had been done, but how it had been
done. He looked straight at each one
of the conspirators for a moment in
turn, then, wheeling swiftly, he threw
out his heels and one of the men went
over and behind the bar; a moment
later another volley sent the second
man up against the rear wall with the
crunch of broken bones, and as the
third attempted to reach the door
WOlftone caught him on the fly and
sent him spinning through the window,
carrying out glass, sash and all Then
the burro kicked the tables and chairs
to pieces. jumped through the door and
went tearing down the street like a
Kentucky thoroughbred. Nobody ever
saw WOlftone again, and Paddy, brok-
en-heaTted, went to the dogs