The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1910-07-07


that yoh professional gamblers are an
Institution; but bless me, / don't take
my son Toms view Of them. They
gamble fob a living, yes. but I believe
they do 10 honestly, as yoh or 7. We
are a gambling nation, sub, fob We
are young, red blooded and prosner-
Gus, but our country Is incapable of
giving birth to a man who deals of
the bottom Of the pack, who is afraid
to meet fortune eye to eye. Yoh agree
with me. subj"
"As a fellow patriot, yes-as a sane
man, no." replied the other. the sa-
trio CLEAN again ~smoldering In the
dead Stag of his eyes. "Yoh have yet
to be picked by a brace Of these river
Yultures-they generally travel In pairs
but as a man of the world, OF co'se,
yoh would instantly recognize them"
"Of co'se, suh," heartily agreed the
other. aside from all else, yoh pro-
fessional gambler may be remarked
fob his lavish display of diamonds"
"Yoh pardon, sub, butynot always. I
calculate that as a man of the world
yoh have heard of Cameo Kirby"
smiled Moreau, again paying atten-
ton to his companions glass. Il
"Kirby? That's an old and hoHored
name in P~laquemine. suh." replied
Mr.. Randall, opening his coat and,
tanning infamed cheeks with hisfhuge
SLOUGH hat. Kirby was my neighbor,
sub, and 1 knew his folks well. l had
the honor to be of some slight assist
apoo -bor ~ -or% -rdorg 5HHrR,r
the panic years. Crops failed. banks
went to smash, but yoh remember,
/ reckon. Well, sub. Mr.. Kirby's
son, Eugene, came home from school
to find bis poh father dead and a
bankrupt everything swept. away.
That was a hard homecoming, sub.
Very sad case. 1 have often wondered
what became Of the boy, fob he had
ali his fathers pride and refused to
let me exert my privilege of an old
neighbor and friend. That was TWEEN
ty years ago, and since then / have
heard in a roundabout way that he
had become wild, drifted in with bad
companions and taken to the river for
a livelihood. In fact, become a COM
mon gambler. But Of co'se l don't be-
lieve it, for no Kirby could ever do
that, suh-fall so low. Yet the name
is uncommon. Have you ever met
this gentleman of whom you spoken
Not socially, subj replied the other
dTyly. ST calculate he is no relative
Of the folks you mentioned, fob his
reputation, sub. is the worst on the
river; known from New Orleans to st.
Louis and back again. He and his
side partner, suh-a dam carpetbag-
ging Yankee by the name of Bunce-
are the most reckless characters on
the river. 1t is scum like them, sub,
who give our fair Mississippi her evil
name. Yoh speak of no man dealing
OF the bottom of the pack. Why,
sub, I assure yoh on my honor they're
so crooked they have to sleep In a
roundhouse. I merely mentioned Kir-
by's name because Of the fact that,
man OF the world as you are, sub, you
would never pick himsfoha profession
al gambler. Never wore a diamond in
his life. The cameo Is his favorite
stone, fob they say IL once saved his
worthless life, and from it he gets his
name, sub. But shall we continue the
game? / am still five hundred yoh
master, and we have fob hours to kill
befoh we make yoh landing
Randall accepted the cards with un-
steady hands. 81 assure you, sub, yoh
are betting against a ~foregone conclu-
Sion,'' he said, "foh there is no stem
ming the turn in the tide. I'll bet you
five hundred onathis showdown, and
then Wen pull stakes, sub. all square,
fob further play would be sheer rob-
berry. You can't beat the Randall luck
when once it has turned"
81 never believed in luck replied
Moreau, "foh life has demonstrated to
me that there is no such abstract.
Fob instance, if a coin falls head ten
times out of ten it is still an even bet
fob heads or tails on the next toss.
That is the law, sub, and all the SUI
perstition in the world cannot revoke
or change it"
"My dear suh," replied the planter,
waving an impatient hand, that is an
nonsense, for I hold that our entire
O0oLOHSC 10 SASdOy SOnl1O14C0 W luck
and not law. I believe in a Supreme
Being, sub, and I attend church regu-
larry, but I do not believe, sub, that
our poh mundane affairs are regulat-
ed by a celestial corporation, especial
" such affairs as card games. Yoh
know yohself, colonel, that the best
playing in the world can't stand against
a run Of blind luck, and as a man of
the world I've seen mob fortunes lost
on high hands-foh barmaids topped
by fob kings every trip-just because
their holders hadn't sense enough to
realize that the tide had set in against
them. And I give yoh my word, subj"
he finished, humping the table, 'that
when I I'LL a fob card inside straight
the Randall luck is sitting into the
game right with me, and yoh simply
can't win. Oh, yoh may get one or