The daily Alaskan., 1909-08-18
TOO MUCH GOOD LUCK
By FLORA MILLle&N.

nITlN- AAN ANNNs
 "How about the condition of life into which one Is born2" said Jones,
 That's a part of the luck. A man Is born into certain circumstances in lieu of cards and certain ability in lieu of skill"
 And Is opportunity part of the cardsy"
 "Ycs; that Is to be counted with luck"
 suppose one has plenty of skin, but no opportunity"
 "Hc Is In the same fix as q sklllful player whose cards arc bad"
 "Gentlcmcu," said Il sccdy individual at a nclghborlng t0blc-thcy were lu pardon the Interruption, but I couldn't help hearing your conversa' tIon. and I am interested in It's pur- port. Permit mo to add one state ment to those you have made, It Is thls-a mans game may be spoiled by too much luck"
 ''That Is his own fault" said Brown, "IIc shouldn't lose his head"
 "Onc may be ruined by good luck and not be at the slightest fault"
 "That statement on It's face is in. correct, contradiction" replied Brown.
 "I can give you case"
 "Do So," said Jones. "If you satisfy us in the matter you may order the best dinner the house affords and l will pay for It."
 with a bottle of champagne as my contribution" supplemented Brown.
 Done" said the stranger Had 1t not been for too much good luck l should now be dining and wining oth. CTS instead of accepting your bounty, giving you nothing but an illustration in return. When l was a young man my father, dying, told mo that his brother. my uncle, who was a mil. lIonalrc bachelor, intended to make me his heir and l must be very circum- spcct in my treatment of him, l had sense enough to sec the situation and"-
 "OvcrdId lt," Brown put in. You dlsgustcd him, and your"-
 Not at all" the stranger went on. "I grew very fond ot him and did not need to pretend to be interested in him. Hc was smart enough to per ccivc this. and we grew nearer together every day. The old gentleman was very fond of playing poker hands for a small stake. Every night before he went to bed he insisted on my sitting down with him for an hour at this d. version"
 'I sec" said Brown. You were silly enough to let him win, and 1t angcrcd him."
 Or to win his money" added Jones,
 "I must do either one or the other, gentlemen, and so did in the end, but l shall come to that In moment, For a time the game wavcrcd between us. Sometimes my uncle and sometimes l would be ahead. But one night the fatal night" the stranger moaned, "l held full hand of aces against my uuclc's full hand of kings Naturally we both bet high-that Is, for a game intended only to help pass an hour before going Co bcd-aud of course l won.
 "The next deal fell to my uncle, and neither of us got more than single pair. then dealt and gave my uncle four tens and myself a royal flush. l did not bet high, but when l showed down my uncle looked surprised. Ills next deal was unimportant but at my next I gave him three aces and my self four queens"
 "Oh, well" protested Brown, If a man has mind to do that sort of thing he can't blame his luck"
 "I was neither I knew nothing about putting cards where wanted them. Had known should have given the winners to my uncle. had sim. ply struck a remarkable run of luck, I was mortified at 1t and would have been delighted to change it, for saw that my uncle was beginning to think that was cheating him. took ad. vantage of one low hand he dealt me Co bet high, but only made matters worse, for he held lower cards than l.
 And so it went on. Every time dealt saw my uncle watching my fingers with terrible suspicion on his face"
 Why" interrupted Brown, didn't you bet low"
 50 I did on one occasion. held three tens and bet a mere trife, My uncle held four hines, and when he saw that had stayed out, he holding hIs only blc hand, he assumed that l did so with a knowledge of where the cards lay,
 And SO the game went on, always topping him, seeing fortune pass away from mo and having no power to stop the luck that was ruininG me. How I wished that I had learned dealing cards professionally so that I could have given my uncle better cards than mine, At last he rose from the table and, pointing to the door, said:
 "Go, and never let me sec your face apainr