The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-12-08
"A CASE or
PREMONIT|ON

against civilization. when the savage
was not yet extinct there and when
the buffalo was bucking against the
locomotive There was Tom Sherikle.
Dave Boggs, Tom Durham and my
self. We had all lived beyond the
Missouri river In those halcyon days.
Some Of us had been worse than we
should have been. but we made fair
average sample Of the population. One
OF our number had reached the United
States senate another was a repre-
sentative, while a third was big
land dealer In the region Of which we
were speaking. The fourth, Tom Dur
ham. was prominent clergyman.
"Do any Of you remember Phoebe
RuskT' asked Sherikle, "who kept
boarding house first at JuIesburg, then
at Laramie, following the Union Pa
cihc as It made new terminals?p
All owned to remembrance Of her
except the Rev. Mr.. Durham, who
maintained silence.
'oThe biggest piece Of blind luck
ever heard Of" Sherikle continued.
'.she furnished. You know how she
used to play poker with the boysl
She made money regularly at tavern
keeping, but she made more by poker
She was a jolly, good natured, good
hearted woman whom everybody
liked and was considered perfectly
straight in every respect She could
spot a regular gambler and would new
er play with any Of them.
We'll. this Is the story heard about
her great stroke Of luck, and rot it
from one Of the men at the ianle, who
had no interest in lying about it. A
number of her 5oarders sat down to
play one night in her parlor and asked
her to join them. She said she'd rath-
err not. She didn't want to win their
money and somehow she felt that
she'd be awfully lucky She could al
ways tell, she said. when she was go
ing to win big. But the boys persuad-
ed her. and she took hand.
Talk as you please, there's a lot tn
these feelings that some people have
about something that's going to hap
pen. I've been there myself. When
was developing my claim at Deadwood
/ knew the day before ! struck the
vein that made me rich that was In
for strike. There was no indication
Of it any more than there had been
when / began to work with my pick.
n. Z I
this to show you just how Phoebe
Rusk felt.
"There were half dozen Of them ia
the party. A youngster Of eighteen,
tenderfoot from the east, wanted TO
take hand. but Phoebe wouldn't 60
in unless he stayed out. So the banker
wouldn't give him any chips, The
cards had been dealt five or six times
when the game was opened with a
Jackpot. 1t happened to be one OF
those occasions when everybody had
a good hand. The pile on the table
kept growing til at last Phoebe called
a halt. She said she didn't want her
house to get the reputation Of running
such big game. One man drew two
cards. and the rest. all except Phoebe.
stood pat. Phoebe said:
eff don't draw the card to I'll my
hand is worth nothing. If | do I'll
win the pot. It's nothing more or less
than a showdown. so don't mind let
ting you see my hand
'sShe laid her cards face up OF the ta-
Bile. There were the eight. nine. ten
and Jack of spades and the king OF
diamonds. Throwing out the king. she
said to the dealer: Give me either
the seven or queen Of spades, which
ever you like. I'm dead sure you'll
give me one or the other
1.-THE dealer dealt her the top card
on the pack She turned 1t over. and
1t was the seven OF spades. She had
a straight flush and won the pot.
THAT broke up the game. None OF
them would play longer against d wo-
man who knew she would win and
did WIN
Those who heard the story were
quite sure that there are people so
deIicately organized in certain respects
that they can feel such presentiments
as the one given. The Rev. Mr. Dur.
ham alone made no comment.
What do you think, parsonT' asked
Sherikle. do You believe in such
foresightf'
mot In that case.s
why notT'
TIN clergyman hesitated and at last
said:
1--WE are all old plainsmen, and ]
know no one OF us would do anything
to in1ure the other, SO / don't mind
giving you my confidence. Besides,
make no secret that was an un.
righteous man before my conversion.
though | don't like, after thirty years
In the ministry, to refer to special In
stances In that life l have since held
In horror. was. as you know. at
that time professional gambler and
was q member Of the poker party at
Phoebe Rusk's though | wasn't known
there as a gambler. Phoebe also was
crooked on cards, and her boarding
house was really gambling house.
she and stood IN together. When
she called for one Of the cards she
wanted she was quite sure she would
get 1t, for I had dealt her the cards
she had, knowing what they were.
and had the seven OF spades ready to
complete her hands
"That's the way, remarked. ''that
usually come about IL
we could uncover the cause"