The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1910-01-06
Both Sides
Winners
Si Haskell Tells Of a Fellow Who
Was Played for -Dupe'
and Won.

and Won.
"Put your money down men, put your
down; sometim,S the gambler
wins and sometimes the sucker wins;
put your money down men," drOoned
the le an, sallowfaced young man on the
stool behind the chuck-a-luck game as
he grinned and winked at me and at
the same time nodded his head toward
the throng of Argonauts who jostled
one another goodnaturedly one evening +
in the spacious gambling room of the
Pack Train saloon, in farawsy Alaska
city.
"Pensive tonight, stranger, or has
Dame Fortunes flckleness driven you
from the game ?" rumbled q big, gut |
tural voice at my elbow.
Turning, looked ct big pile of
humanity, properly clothed and topped
off with big, clean face, wreathed in
a whimsical: smile.
"Neither," said I, 81 was Just watch
ing the frantic efforts Of that Partisan
system-player bucking that fixed wheel
of Barts," aud pointed my finger at
the scene to which alluded.
The chuck-a-luck man repeated his
singsong csjolery, the chips clicked, the
the money jingled, and the little ivory
ball whizzed and buzzed, bobbed and
stopped, then seemingly dissatisfied,
bodied on again to finally drop in an
other number, and then the dealer clean
ed the layout.
"It'squeer doings," said the big stran-
ger, "and wheneveriI see anything like
this always think of an incident that
happened when was boy"
"My name is Jones'" was my quick
remark, as reached out my hand in q
selfintroductory attitude.
"And mine is Brown" "tcame as quick
Iy back and the big stranger grabbed
the proffered hand, chuckled and grin.
ned and winked.
In order to properly acknowledge the
introduction and at h same time
christen our new: names, we leaned
against tie only piece of genuine ma
hogany in Alaska..at that time and wait
ed to be served.
"Did you ever know of a case where
both the gambler and the sucker Won p
asked Brown.
"No! I cannot conceive of such a
thing" ventured in reply.
"The term, G m O. r and sucker
are not exactly applicable in the Incl
dent refer to, but the intentions are
parallel. However, for convenience
sake we will call them the CRATER and
the sucker" continued Brown as We
concluded our business at the bar anC
then sauntered toward the front of ths
house where the crowd was not 81
dense.
"The incident l have In mind" sait
be, "happened back in Connecticut
where was born. Young Bill Larkins
the son of Old Bill Larkins, one of ou
near neighbors, was the sucker, ant
someone residing n New York, o
Chicago, or some other iniQuitous place
who claimed to be able to eliminate th
growing propensities of the barnyar
rooster, and advertised to that effec
was the CRATER"
"Young BilllLarkins was not exactl
half baked, but he was considerably uI
derdone. One Of his failings was
strong tendency to send miscellaneou
dimes and quarters to department 0, q
drawer %, or some other alluring az
dress, seeking great knowledge and va
uable information, and so on.
"Young Bill naturally wrote to draw
er %, enclosing twenty-five cents for th
recipe for eliminating::..t b Q rooster
crow and the CRATER sent him nit
little circular stating that all that WI
necessary was to watch the rooste
closely and whenever they started
crow, chase them:around the yard u
til they were out of wind and thoroug
~ exhausted.