Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-04
-FOUR TYBEWRIDERS"


man saloon keeper who was never
meant to be skinned. He's taken care
OF by some Providence that the SINNERS
don't know anything about 1t. Heaven
never meant that that German should
stand for a trimming.
"Of course, he's an Elk and an Eagle
and singbunder and all similar. He's
a spender. too, and he's there with it to
spend. So, long time ago. the cheerful
workers doped him out as something al
most too soft to shred. Up to date he
has whole lot of their money.
Couple Of months ago four OF these
trimmers got hold Of the German at one
Of the river clubs around Cincinnati.
These four that got him into a table
stakes poker game at the river. club are
a pretty smooth quartet of the doing
the-best-they-can' kind. They've done a
lot of frisking. and they know how to
frisk
Jake, the German-Tll call him Jake
was some beered up when they got him
to sit in, but he's often that way, and
yet he always takes care of himself. He
the size of roll of North Carolina
natural leaf. and 1t didn't look right to
| the four that he should be burdened
with the Keeping of package like that
on him. Any one Of the four could deal
EN- from any part Of the ream and
know what was coming out with every
flick. But they wanted to be sure that
Jake, the Teuton, was well baited before
they started to peel him good.
so they allowed the early luck to
take it's course, and it was all Jake's
way. He was so matted up that he had
to peek at his papers out Of one eye in
order not to see too many of 'em at
once, but the right ones came his way,
a nd a nd hn a
change with persistent regularity.
when he was about $500 out in front
the four who had him there to pull the
pelt Off of him began to shuttle their feet
looks at one another out of the tails of
their eyes. Then the man whose deal it
was coughed the prearranged signal that
it was about to happen.
'.He was the star dealer of the bunch
but by this time Jake was SO picked that
1t wasn't necessary to do any fancy deal
ing. The dealer just rang in cold deck
and it looked like Jake's hour was nigh,
or approaching fast.
1.-THE game was all jackpots and for
| this, the meant deal, Jake was under the
gun. He squeezed his assortment out
one by one, and then, placing his left
hand over his left orb SO as to make sure,
he took long peek, and saw that he had
not been mistaken.
"Jake was there with the goods-three
mines and pair Of queens.
He remarked, maltously, that he con-
sidered it punk poker for a man under
the gun to crack 1t in any circumstances
but that as the hour was getting late he'd
take S. opening chance with his pair Of
knaves.
"Then the man next to Jake looked re-
flectively at the rafters OF the river club
room for quite a spell. After that he
boosted it $50.
"The next trimmer placed his cards on
the table in front of him, pared his nails
thoughtfGlly for about half a minute, and
then observed that he considered his
papers to be worth about 500 more.
1.-THE next man didn't do any of that
preliminary upstage business at all, but
came right out blatantly with the state
ment that it 'ud cost all hands still an
other hundred to play cards with him.
1.-THE dealer pretended to look some
blank and angry over this, but he finally
broke out with the crack that he WASH t
going to be stampeded out of any pot in
which he had the top pair OF openers and
he made it still one more hundred.
"Now, l don't know. and nobody else
knows, whether Jake the German shifted
rodent right at that stage Of it. Jake
isn't a conversationalist, and he hasn't
told anybody, yet. the why and the
wherefore of his play just at that juno
ture.
"Of course, he had nice mess of
papers and all that, but still he wasn't
very we'll acquainted with the people he
that fact into consideration. In circum-
stances of that sort the ordinary man
playing poker with strangers would have
looked upon nine full as something al
together too nice coming pat, to be true,
and nine men out OF ten would have pulled
out then and there under that fire of
boosts from all hands. But there wasn't
anything ordinary about Jake-never was.
'I1e didn't do any more boosting him
self. on his pat hand but he stood the
other raises and stuck along. The rest
of them contented themselves with
standing the dealers final raise. too
and so there they were. five men os-
tensibly intending to set up d claim
for the junk in the middle OF the baize
Now, it was one of the friskers who
told this story on himself and ms pals,
and what happened right at this stage
of it was peculiar.
Jake, of course, the under the-gun
man, was the individual first required
to name the number Of papers he
wanted and required.
But he was studying the moves of
the people on his left. waiting to see
them making the initial sorting OF
their hands before discarding.
But, seeing that the others to the
left of him were going to stand pat
and all of the others except the dealer
had boosted it on nothing just to give
the dealer a chance to send it along
Jake, with the greatest elaboration on
earth. discarded. his three mines and
drew TO HIS pdiF VI quCShS.
His dope may have been that his
hand was topped by somebody. or he
may have been just plug-but don't
think that
However. the amazement of the
dealer when Jake discarded three of
his papers and asked for three was
something immense, 1 am t)id. He
knew, of course, what Jake bad, and
he knew what he himself had-four
tens But Jakes way of drawing GER
tainly spoiled bit of the percentage,
at any rate, of what looked TO be
living cinch. For the dealer didn't
happen to know just what shape the
cards that remained in the deck were
in. Yet the four tens that 1e'd given
himself in the deal looked pretty neat,
chance Of Jake beating that layout on
a three-card draw.
$50, covering up his establishment
over Jake's queer way of discarding
and drawing, the dealer discarded one.
lake picked up his three, looked at
them out of the one lamp, and ebet
hundred right. off the coil.
..,rhat put the man next to him In kin.
of stupor He, too, with the Others was
puzzled over Jake's draw, knowing that
the dealer had intended giving the Ger
man a swell phony pat hand for the skin
ndng. But he got a kick on the leg and
made his bet and he boosted 1t along
hundred. The same signal answered for
the other two, and they were there with
hundred boosts, too.
1.-THE dealer took everything into con-
sideration and the experience of life
time told him that it was impossible for
lake with his three-card draw, to have