The sun., 1908-03-22

seemsd 10 rcallzs that & Was up 70 him 70
make the effort Of his life. No.
4 was traveIlIn' the State, ho sald, swhsn
feu In with 4 couple o. tin horne Z was
movin' I'm town 10 town, an We put up 70
the 0reenville tavern the same night.
seen enough on EN- one or two other places
TO know they was tol'able slick, but 'tWant
none o. my business 10 butt IN
.Great God' interrupted Joe baesst
an ais / was Interested In, con:
tinued Mr. Pepper, unmoved, was keepin'
outen the game while they was playinI.
'Peared like that was some easy.
@They called theirselves Hank Buttle
an Jim Hockins. Mebbe them was their
names. We was settin' In the baTroom
that night, an Judge Oloott, one o the
oldest citizens, come In, some slowed, an
begin talkin about hungerin' an thirstin'
fr a game o. draw. Buttle said he'd play,
an little saWed-oif. name o. Smith, lowed
he d set In Z there was game. 20 they begin
astin' Z anybody else d take q hand,
when they ast me / told EN- l didn't
play, an cd see they thought was lyin' /,
like most people does when you speak the
truth, but there was a storekeeper, name O.
Graham. said he'd buy chips, 20 they had
four, but they had to coax hockins Siir con-
sid'able afore he'd make the NTH, 90
knowed right away things d be some In
terestin'.
well, they was, right I'm the start
First seen was tn old Judge stufhn q
card up his Fleeve, an / says TO myself
there'd' be things a-diddln' some quick
bein as he want none too Skllful an l
knowed Hocldns an Buttle want over
lookin' nothin'. But they never said .
word, on'y seen 'em look at one snother
an grin. -,
Next thing noticed was Graham dealin'
often the bottom o. the deck, an knoWed
them two crossroads sports seen u as
plain as did, but they set like two brass
dogs, sayin nothin an playln' . long.
"Twa'n't more n three or four deals
ater that Pfore l caught the sawed-on
stackin th' cards an doin' OF 1t more n
considerable clumsy, 90 there couldn't 90
no doubt but what Buttle an Hooklns
seen II too.
Likely them Greenville yaps was so
'customed 10 playin' together Z they was
maxim lowances f'r one another, or mebbe
they want none on 'em wise 10 what IN
others was doin', but how they reokoned
they was goln' 10 fool anybody else was
more n / cd see, an twa'nt noways
clear 10 me why two tin horns d set an
lose money like them two was doin thouten
a kick.
what made II more curious was I l
was watchln' them just as careful as was
the others, an never seen nothln crooked.
They was playin' as reg lar as clocks an
not maxim no breaks whatsomever, an
they was losin' on the average somepin'
like two or three dollars minute 'thouten
a sign OF a kick.
'Then, Just about the time l was lOokin'
f'r the sbootin' 10 begin, seen great white
HafhN ot,dflau Tkt nld .yud0a had tuat
Taked In a $50 pot with the help Of a acc Y
he'd been hivin up f'r five or ten minutes,
an Hockins sort o. stretched hissef, an he
savs. This here's gettin' monytOnious.
Here I've sot f'r hour an ohipped in more n
SsG 'thJuten a chanst o. winnin' nore'n
four pots, an I've been out helt every time
| had a hand | don't sees On ever ret
even at this here 81 limit. lets make II
table stakes. What do YOU sayP
sWell, thom natives had heen plckin'
up easy money till they'd got graEpin like,
an thinkin' they seen a chonst for more
Of II they all agreed prompt, an Buttle
Rrowled little an then said he recEoned
he'd lOsa es much one way a. he would
'tother. 80 be hadn't no 'bjeotion.
"Then Hockins he says. I reckon we
mought an well have a fresh deck, an while
Yon re about II, landlord, fetch mo another
hundred in chips. / want sOmepin' 10 play
with An Futile says he'll take hundred
too. an the natives they chuckled an eaid
they'd worry along with what they had
f'r spell. which they could do, bein' az they
had more'n two hundred velvet among
'em. So there was somepin' over five hum
dred on the table when the fresh deck was
opened
sHockins ripped on the cover an aeon I
he hsdanother dock o tn same color, IIalIned
in his left hand. When he rified the cards
tEougk. there want tut one deck 70 be seen,
an that's when tumbled.
There want much doubt o. what d
happen a'ter that, an IL happened. tn
old Judge ken sneakin aces an Graham
kep on dealn' often the bottom an sawed
oif KEEP stackin' the cards an Hockins
an Buttle KEEP on playin' straight poker
'thouten tAkin' any notics O. the tricks
was bein' did 0n'y them two knowed
every card in the deck by their backs, an
all's they had 10 do was 10 lay down when
they was beat an swat the natives when
they got the chanst.
Them chips begin runnin' tother way
an inside o twenty minutes them natives
was buyin again, most as fast a. they
cd dig up the money. Then, just as Hookins
had built up a stack O. somepin' like two
thousand dollars that game busted up the
funniest ever seem"
Mr. Pepper raused at this point and
chuckled softly, and as he showed no sign
Of continuing his story old man Greenhut
asked imp atiently, well, how was thatl'
Mr. Pepper looked puzzled. I don't
rightly, know as | en- explain it, he said.
"'thouten / show you 'uns how II hap
pened. Buttle looked up sudden an he
says, What was that Eo!se outsider The
others says they don't hear nothin' an
Buttle says, There 'tis again, an he starts
10 the door like this. like he was goin' to
find out
And Mr.. Pepper arose like one looking
for a noise. and opened the door.
'There he stood for a minute he oon-
tinued, -lookin' up and down. thisaway.'
And Mr.. Pepper looked up and down.
-Then, std o. sayin' anythin' he Just
shut the door, him bein' on the outside
And Mr. Pepper closed the door. being
himself on the outside.
After waiting a few moments in some
surprise old man Greenhut and his friends
looked at one another as II perplexed,
Then they went 10 the door and looked out
but Mr. Pepper was not there.