The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-06-02

WkSSE1ANE8 man eho Was calling on
s Nellie paintY's pagsa.s
thai evening in their
home il Helena Ga the hanks q the Missis-
sipfi Jimmy Burke had SPOKEN ior her
only lhs night before, but Tie engagement
pas n0 set announced ana She did not
care 10 have old man Callin the hrst 70
IeaIn ii Il, S. she answered eyasiyely
0h. See him At SAnday school occasion
Aily picsing ii her dress 10 hide the blush.
sgnd8y ho9l. ch exclaimed lhe old
man That's smething new lor Jimmy
Should hayt thought IRVING to swim The Mis-
sssippi Rirer again, like he did last tall when
y0a trea III caaS him not to ao ii ~ going
higber ap ricsetvY aagpaies than any ether
laii would hg more III Jimmy line ~ be
'tsAds sunday school does he
Nps Mr Catta He has The class next
mine. she answered s9tH4
Wen gel laughed the old man, throw
ing baes bis head They do say those dare
devils tarn oat all night sometimes kind
81 getslleci @hea Jimmy used 70 keep all the
other boys busy studying up something that
Jimmy wouidbs afraid 70 do but they never
bill i. so far as | know
81 believe Jimmy is inclined to be little
ytntagesoule Nellie ADMITTED, looking not
Al 81 displeassd
Nenturssonsn the old man almost
sfiaatsd Why bless my soul He's the
greatest daredevil | ever heard tell Of
Didn't he walk right into the ham up at the
stleery Nhea THAI blrrel 81 naphtha was al
msst Aare aud throw sand Oh it, and every one
else ia town Nas making for the levee
think | beard Something about that
once. rrnarSed Nellie demurely She had
not pnly heard 1t, bat had told il al least d
hundred times
Well the pla man went on, Jimmy's d
young man n5w Must he nigh on twenty
two; but Ma hasn't l5sthis dislike tor not tax
lag dare / heard only last night that he
wAs thinking ot taekling that cattle mems
p9ser gama
Oh. il am sure he would never do such d
thing as thatn exclaimed Nellie quickly.
jimmy plays cards occasionally, but he
never mixes with regular gamblers
eMaybel" observed the old man, medita-
tively All know about il i that some Of
the boys in the village were saying they didn't
believe he had the nerve to tackle that game,
ana all Jimmy did was to ask ior more par
tieulars about it. and how 10 get in it, and
when was due down the river again Helol
Here comes Annie and your mother, SO cal
cllate we'll have to be starting for home /"
and the old man stood UP and shuliled toward
the other end of the porch
Alone in her room that night, and all the
nest day, there was only one thought in Mel
lie i mind. Jimmy was engaged % her now,
s hut lie was actually thinking yenturing into
The cattle men poker game
She cauid not remember the time when she
had n9t heard men talk In whispers about
that game. Having always lived On the
banks II The Mississippi and being familiar
with 1.-The iek Icre N all the famous boats that
passed haF h>me and with storirs III many
that haa Piled the stream III the oid days, It
seemeA u her that tile cattle mems poker
game vas "a tile Mississippi River pretty
much what die Loree was to the Rhine
II WAS more than twenty years her father
had told her once, since that game was
started by some men from Texas who tray-
sled IT'D and down the river several times a
year They called themselves cattle men
although people said they were nothing but
gambler They played ior big money, and
lhey played continuously from one end Of the
iourney to the other They seemed 10 wei
come any enc wha wished 70 join them, hu'
somehow or other they always won his
money never he theirs.
Many gambler had sat in that game witt
them. but none Of them was ever heard K
boast of having beaten IL II was sometimes
whispered that men had been known 10 gS
On board boat and win the cattle men
money and never been heard Of again. Ole
card-sharpers grew strangely silent when tina
game WAS mentioned, and Mike Hopper, on
III the cleyerest of the old river sports, used al
ways to place Ms right hand over his left, 80 a
to hide an ugly looking scar, whenever th'
conversation turned % The cattle men ans
their poker game Although He would neve
admit ii, il was said that the scar On Mike
hand was made By bowie knife in the hand
of cattle man that caught him putting thl
wrong half of the pack On the top after th,
cards we're cut.
50 the boys haye been daring Jimmy t
4 try bis luck h that game thought Nellie
91iconrsc twas only talk She told herself
Jimmy was not gambler, although he playeC
billiards and pool with the boys and occasion
ally ear II the little ten-centlimit gane AZ th
hotel on Saturday nights TO dare him t
PLAY poker with those dreadful cattle mel
would be like asking man who could hardl
manage q horse and buggy, to drive FIRE IN
aine through the streets at midnight
The next time she saw Jimmy Burke, sh
: s~-----+~ "