The sun., 1910-01-09

Z AAOAANy AOAg w AuAAG u worth
while. but however twas. they'd stoppsI5
pIayin, an they was loolkin' on whso
a party o young. oecds come abo'd ari
took passage f'r New Orleans.
They was all fine. likely youngsters
full o, fun an gentlemen firm the hoots
up, like you cd see by lookin' AT 'sn,
| an each on 'em had his body servon,
along. l reckon they was of f'r a spra.
| an o. co'se everybody knowed WIN
they was liable to have consid able sized
Wiusted an Denman no time to Ss spo,
ON f'r suckers. an fore We done jeit
Vicksburg more'n a hour or so thevS
made acquaintance with EN-.
-One thing t didn't come out till a tar.
ward was 7 one o the body ssrva Ts
to young Ellerslie. planters son. what
'peared to be- the ringleader O. tho party
done warned Ellerslie ag'in Winsted an;
Denman nigh about as soon as they Rot
onto the boat How come he knowsd
they was pfessionals dunno nor never
knowed how Winsted knowed abont
the warnin'. Mebbe he overheard 4
but, however twas, 'peared he knowed
il all right. an he was almighty son,
count OF a nigger talkin' ag'in him.
but he didn't say nothin' about it, not
s'Pears 'Rastus was one o them faith.
full niggers what nigh about worshipped
young Ellerslie, an he hated like pixen
FOR to see his master havin anythin'
to do with white trash like he reckonsd
p'sessionais was, but Ellerslie he on'v
laughed at him an tole him he cd take
Anyways, WANT long afore the
Ave on 'em was playtn' poker. an 'twa'n't
Sas sser the sP. e:n ~hsn ss they ".
sters was well ixed. like I said, an tSs
two gamblers had their pockets stuffed
with winnin's.
the s'Ioon for TO- fetch some drinks
the p'fessionals didn't take nothin' 70
speak Of, on'y just tastin' their stun,
but the gentlemen was takin' more'n
was reely good for EN-. 90 when l looked
at the table an seen they all had stacks
myself what that trip was liable for 70
be consid' able spensive even fr rich mems
sons. 'Twa'n't none O. my business
though. an didn't say nothin.'i
sI looked on f'r few minutes. though,
Bob Lee an Will Roberts he called EN-.
sure did know how to play poker. 90
I reckoned mebbe Winsted an. his pal
wouldn't have no such easy thing as they
was expectin',
drawed on, gettin' good hands, but
when one o. the three dealt the
on'y thing they'd have 20 look out
for was a seesaw. an firm the way they
was playin' I kind o. spicioned what they
knowed what they was up agin'. 90
just nachully got interested an bimeby
l made a errant fer to go into the sloon
again for to see what was diddin
when I come back i seen Ellersle'd
been losin' consid able, fr the money
what he'd had with his chips was nigh
gone. More'n that took a notion. I'm
the look in his eyes. what he was gttin'
consid able worked up. His friends had
both lost too, but not so heavy. an they
want q 'xcited as him. but they was
all three hell bent on the game. an
Just then il come Lees deal. an
Ellerslie put up the reg'lar ante. a dollar
call two. Winsted set next an he come
in. Then Roberts trailed an Denman
h'isted il dollar an Lee dropped.
-Ellerslie didn't say nothin but he
slung a SIS gold piece in the pot. maxim
a raise o. 81 on Denman, an Winsted
seen the double raise, but didn't 60 no
further that time. Roberts looked kind,
o. doubtful, but he trailed once mo- an'
Denman boosted it s..
Then Ellerslie went back with $40
mo- an Winsted trailed again. but Roberts
looked at his cyards kind o reRretful
an throwed 'esn down. They was tol q BILE
good. but not good enough.
Then Denman an Ellerslie KEEP A.
secsawip' like they was tryin' to drive
Winsted out, on'y he wouldn't be druv,
an they bet mo- an mo- each time, till
there was nigh 5000 in the pot. an Den.
man closed {, sayin' I reckon thatT,
$50 Lee picked up the deck FOR to
serve 'em. an ell three on 'em stood pat,
o. co'se l seen then what there was
liable for TO be consid'a able mo- bettin',
but didn't look for nothin' like what
come.
-Winsted, o. co'se. had first 81 y. an
he kind O. laughed. an says 1 been
lettin' you uns do the bsttin' so fur. bit
] reckon I'll do some now nv own SELF
An he chipped in 81 900 in bills.
"Denman looked at Ellerslie f'r a minute
like he was tryin' to make up his mind
what Ellerslie d do. Then, seem fn
his eyes what he was goin' to keep it up,
he SAYS i reckon a flush amt no good
here an he throwed down. Likely
there was some sort OF signal to him
in what Winsted done said.
Anyways. Ellerslie boosted him A
thousand am Winsted come back WITH
/ s., 600. Then Ellerslie looked serious.
! an he says, I'd like TO play along some
| further but / haven't the money with
me an reckon you wouldn't care aboVt
takin' my check
$50 Winsted said, polite enough, but
sort o. sneerin' like. Well, checks rint
| just like money, you know. Not on the
( boats, they 9lnt. but " you ham I got
enough TO call with you on put that
nigger o. yourn up f'r a thousand. |
reckon he'll be worth that in New Or
| leans
-Ellerslie turned red an | thought
! first of he was goin' TO say him
nasty. but he kind o swallowed hard an
then says l reckon I've got you beat.
but | might lose at that. an / wouldn't
put Rastus up FIR all the money OH the
boat unless you'll let me buy him back
when We get 10 New Orleans
Then Winsted kind o. laughed. an he
says; Sure. will. amt got no use for
him a'ter we get there An Ellerslie
says. Then I'll call you an he put up
81 900 in money, the niger goin' for the
balance.
Then he showed down his hand, havin'
a king full on aces. but Winsted showed
four sevens. So Ellerslie called Rastus,
who was standin' by the do an says:
Rastus, | done lost you just now
bettin' with this gentleman. but he's
promised to sell you back TO me as soon
as we get TO New Orleans It's all right,
boy
AAn' cd see what he was sorry an
ashamed, both, f'r what he done. on'y he
wouldn't say so. An ] cd see too what