The Ontario Argus. (Ontario, Or.) 1???-1947, 1909-12-24
A CASE OF
PREMONITfON
, GEORGE v. WILLIAMS.


the sixties were called tile plnlhS'
when the natural state was Struggling
npalnst civilization. when the savage
wns not yet extinct thcre ANA wheh
the bunalo was bucking against the
locomotive. There was Iom shcr'N'''
Dave Boggs. Tom Durham ana my
self We had al lived beyond the
Missouri river IN those halcyon uaES'
Some of Us had been worse thnn we
should have been. but we made u ialr
average snmplr of the population. one
of our number had reached llit unI'd
s,ntcs senate. another was repro
sentative. while u third WA Dig
land dealer In the region of when we
were speaking. The fourth Tom Dur.
hmm. was II prominent clergyman.
"Do any Of you remember Phoebe
Rusk2" asked Shcriklc, who Kept Il
boarding house FIRST NJ lulcsburg, then
nj Laramie. following the Union va
clllc nv II mnde new tcrmInnlSF
All owned to remembrance ot hcr
oxccpt the Rev. Mr. Durhnm, who
maintained silence.
THE biggest piece Of blind luck !
over hoard of" Sbcriklc continued
"shc furnished You know how shp
used TO play poker with the boysf
She made money regularly ut tavern
kcpplng. but she made more 10y poker.
She was n jolly, good naturcd' good
hrnrtcd woman whom everybody
liked and was considered perfectly
straight IN every respect She could
spot regulnr gambler aud would heY-
or play with any Of them.
pWcll. this Is the story ] heard about
her great stroke Of luck, aud ! got 1t
from one Of the men nt the table. VINO
had no interest IN lying about 1t. \
pumbor Of her bourdcrs sat down TO
MAY one night IN her pnrlOr aud asked
her 10 Ioln them. she said she'd rnth'
or not. She didn't wnnt to win their
money and somehow SHE felt that
she'd be awfully lucky She could al
wnys tell. she said. when she was go
ing 10 win big. fIut the boys pcrsund'
ed her. and she took hand.
"ralk NJ YOU please. there's lot IN
those feelings that some people have
nbout something that's going TO hap.
non. I'VE been there myself when
was developing my claim ~ Dcadwood
know the day before ! struck the
vein that made inc rich that ! was 10
for strike. There wnS no Indication
of Il any more than there had been
when begun TO work with my pick
Nevertheless knew II. mention
this to show you just how Phoebe
Rusk felt
There were hnlf n dozen OF thcm In
the party. a youngstcr Of eighteen
n tcndcrfoot from the east. wanted "a
take hand, but phoebe wonldpt 80
In unless he stayed out. so the bnnRe'
wouldn't give him any chips. Thc
enrds had been dealt I've or sis times
when the Fnmc was opened with =
Jackpot. II happened 10 be ono OF
those occnslons when everybody had
good hand. The pile on tho tabl,
kept growing THAT lust Phoebe called
n bnlt. She said she dldn't want heI
house TO get the reputation or running
such big game. one man drew two
cards. and the rcRt. all except Phoebe
stood pat. Phoebe saldi
"If don't draw the card TO fill my
hand ~ worth nothing. II do w
win the pot. It's nothing more or less
than showdown. so don't mind let
ting you see my hand
"she laid her cards face up o the Ia
BILE. There were the eight, nine. tel
and Jack Of spades aud the king OF
diamonds. Throwing out the king. sh'
said 20 the dealer: Give me clihe
the seven or queen Of spades, which
ever you like. I'm dead sure youi
give me one or the other
"The dealer dealt her the top care
on the pas. she turned Il over an'
II was the seven of spades. She ha'
straight dush aud won the pot
"That broke up the game. None o.
them would play longer against wo
man who knew she would win anC
did win"
Those who heard the story wer'
quite sure that there are people 81
dellcately organized In certain respects
that they eau feel such preseniImenu
as the one given. The Rev, Mr. Dur
ham alone made no comment.
"What do you think, parsonT asked
sherIkle. "Do you believe In suel
foreslghtT
mot IN that case"
"Why notf"
The clergyman hesitated ana at las
said:
I'VE are all old plaInsmen, and
know no one Of us would do anythlnl
10 injure the other, so don't mln'
giving YOU my confidence, Besides,
make no secret that | was an M
righteous man before my conversion
though l don't like, after thirty year
In the ministry, TO refer 10 special IN
stances in that life have since hell
In horror was, as you know, n
that time n professional gambler an
was member OF the poker party n
Phoebe Rusk's. though | wasn't know
there as "A gambler. Phoebe also wa
crooked on cards. and her boarding
house was really a gambling houS,
She ana | stood In together. WheI
she called for one of the cards sh
wanted she was quite sure she wonl'
get IL. for had dealt her the card
she had. knowing what they were
and had the seven ~ spades ready I
complete her hand"
"Thnts the way" | remarked. "tha
presentiments usually come about
we could uncover the cause
Needed Repairs.