The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-12-19

4 ly from his chair. Mr.. Pepper fled pre-
. cipitately. Such was his haste in go
ing through the doorway that he ran
violently into the front part Of fat
! man who was about to enter, and the
/. two fell to the ground outside.
No special hardship ensued directly
/ from the fall, since the soil in Arkansas
/ City is generally muddy enough TO pre-
] vent abrasiOns in such cases, but as OLD
/ man Greenhut hurled his bungstarter
/ with evaporation in the direction of the
! fleeing Pepper. it CHANGED that the butt
! end thereof impinged with violence on
/ the latest part Of the fat man, which was
/ in a way fortunate, for painful the
blow was, it inflicted no great damage.
The fat man, however, did not seem to
| realize how fortunate he was for when he
] had disengaged himself from Pepper, who
! Immediately continued his flight, he ad-
/ vanced into the room and in voice
/ choking with rage, said:
/ "WotineH kind Of a way Is that to get
/ customers? Here come, ,peaceable,
/ lOOkin' fr a drink, an get butted an
| fired at. If anybody wants to fight, say
/ so, but heavin COrdwOOd at a man I'm
/! behind when some lunatiCs done butted
him into the mud amt no white man S
/ trick. n en- lick the man Z says It's,
if I be some fat"
9TH amt no call f'r you to lick no
/ body" said old man Greenhut, mildly.
! "even if YOU could, N L reckon there s
THAT there bungstarter want hove
/ at you. / was On'y tryin' to kill a wild
| jaCkass O. the wilderness what comes
in here sometimes, an, if you sees fit TO
| get in the way o. wild jackasses when
they'm running FIR their LIES, tn amt
| nobody to be belt accountable, s fur 8
| 7 en- see Rein' as yOu was Onluckys
| though, I'm wilIin' to treat"
The fat mans wrath was not immedi-
ately cooled, even by this offer of hos
pitality, but as the others gathered
around for their drink and reasoned
/ with him good naturedly while they
/ helped him to scrape off some Of the mud.
Z he allowed himself to be convinced
gradually that the whole thing was acci-
/ dental and after he had one drink he
proceeded to set EN- up again. More than
that, when his temper had passed he
proved to be a merry and cOmpaniOnable
person, and what was even more i'm
pOrtant, a man of apparent prosperity.
/ II been lOafin' along down the river, ~
he explained, 'stOppin off here an there,
sort o. gettin' acquainted with the cOun-
try, so when herd how there was most
gently a hellTOaTin' good game o. poker
gOin' on in Arkansas City I just nachuiy
stopped over at Arkansas City. I hahn {
played such a terrible lot o poker, but
I'm Willin' to blow a small wad fr the
satisfaction o. playin' into first class
game.
We'll" said old man Greenhut, Il don't
play frequent my own self, but I've heeTd
what the boys does play a fine game in
the back room sometimes. Mebbe they
mought have a settin' if you was any
ways anxious
Winterbottom lowed he hadn't no
| jectiOns to takin' a hand if anybody
cared to play, and after a little persuasion
Bassett, BlaisdeIl and Pearsau consented
to sit in just to make up a game, where
upon the fat man invited all hands to
drink and then bought 500 worth of
chips. In paying for them he showed a
roll of large size and the native talent
] oh I'd n ina
when they would be likely to acquire the
whole of it.
At the beginning Of the game it seemed
highly probable that this prospect would
be realized. So far as they could judge
the fat man seemed to have benefited
little by his experiences in the game,
whether it had been much or little.
He was awkward in handling the cards
and made a misdeal the first time the deal
came to him. Moreover he asked ques-
tons which the others hesitated to an
sWer because of their extreme simplicity,
his idea apparently being that he was
I sitting among friends who would will
ingly instruct him on any point that
seemed doubtful to him.
/ An example Of this occurred in the first
/ round, which, while it proved nothing
definitely, indicated that the stranger was
really as gUileless as he pretended to
be. WinterbOttOm had dealt and Pear
sail, sitting next, had anted 81 call g.
n Bassett came in and the fat man trailed
/ That let WinterbottOm out but Pear
/ sail stood the raise. and the fat man
/ after an anxious look at his hand also
put up his g. Then Bassett, seeing no
! chance of being useful to his friends and
/ having only a single pair, threw his
/ cards on the table.
The pot being closed, PearsalI called for
three cards, but when Winterbottom asked
/ the fat man how many he wanted the
/ latter hesitated. SHINING his cards
| down slowly he seemed undecided; then
/ turning to Bassett, he said:
You done passed, so you hain't no
/ interest in this. What d you reckon was
/ best to do with two pairs? Would you
! take one or would you split EN- an take
! three if you had, say, aces and kings up?"
/ Il reckon I'd split 'em an take three,
/ said Bassett gravely and after the fat
man had done this Blaisdell stood pat.
Then when the fat man looked at him
dOubtfulIy and bet a whit chip he
/ promptly raised it $50.
/ At this Pearsall dropped, Il seeming
/ to be unlikely that any further aid would
| be needed from him, and the fat mans
! perpleXity was almost painful.
Il reckon I'd Oughter lay down hadn't
! I, bein' as he stood pat?" he remarked a
Bassett, and the latter replied, as gravely
as before, Looks that way"
But the fat man still hesitated
IF I drop he said, Il won't never
know what he's got. Pears to me that
amt no way for to learn this here game.
I reckon it's worth $40 for to see your
guards"
Finally he put up the $50, and BlaidseH,
being obliged to do so, showed down his
hand saying" On'y a little flush
But the fat man looked at them and
said excitedly, THAT amt no flush. One
o. them hearts is q dimOnd."
so 'tis' said Blaidsell, much chag-
rlned, after he had looked again. Don't
see how I cd a. made such mistake"
Then the fat man showed pair Of tens
and took the pot, but as he scoOped it in
he said cOnsolingly, THAT kind o. mis-
take is easy made. I done it myself three
or four times when 1 was learniz' The
game"