The Alaska citizen., 1911-03-20

face as he looked toward Jake Win tcrbottom Says how tn Cn'y way yo' c'n be Sho' O settin' him is to jump on an ride Sho' 's yo' take time to bride an saddle him hell get away
 Pears like yo' was some delib- crate. Jake Fin what yo' tell. thls here yap must a had a consid'a wad."
 Reckon he had" said Winterbot- tom with sullcn abruptuess.
 "Consld'ablc stewed, he was. too, continued the old man. If they sly is erect"
 "Drunker'n a oiled owl" said the other
 Well, Jake. sho' be s'prised How come yo' let anythin' like that get past? Pears like yo'd oughter called to mind how business ain't liable fo' to do no good to man whats drunk already. Yo'd oughter made sho' O gettin' it in circ-lation round town"
 T ain't rohbin' no drunken man. exclaimed Winterbot'om indignantly.
 Who said anythin' bout robbing of him?" retOrted the old man with equal indignation. T reckon 'tain't likely the gentleman was tco fur gone ;n liquor fo' to set in q game. I've knowed a heap O players whatll do as well whom they're drinkin' s hey will sober Yo' cd a gave him a invite 70 come round here. couldn't yo'?"
 "I wouldn't go SD fur's to butt into no controversy regardin' this here p'tic'lar gent ob- served jm Blaisdell mpar tially, but pears like there's two ways O laokin' at what yo' was sayin'. Gre niaw, bout a man settin' in,o a game O draw with hathaway as he will sober, he hain't got no overwhelmin' call to set in when hes sober"
 That's what the Good Book calls d obitcr diCtiOn!" exclaimed the old man Gre onlaw angrily, "meanin' how it ain't got no application to the subjeCk. Every man has call to play poker, bein' $ that's tn ony way to get edicatcd proper
 Faint to be 'xpected s he's goin' to make money while he's learnin'. not to no gre't extent he won't, but he's c'ntributin to the welfare O mankind, ain't he, when he puts his money in circ-lation? Tn ain't no harm d'd. by an large seein' s how some body wins what he loses. He's gettin' a edication an somebody else is gettin' the money. so it's a standoff"
 Well, l don't mind wnnin' no mans money" said Winterbottom stubbornly, not s long s he knows what he's doin'. l don't. bu. when he's as drunk s this here Corkins was it's wuss n stealth. There's got 10 be a line drawed some'res. an reckon yo' cant draw it no furder along II that"
 "Oh. l don't know" said MT. Owen Pepper This here Corkins yo' was mentionin', is that Abner Corkins i'm Cape Girardeau?"
 T heer'd his name was Ahner." admitted Winterbottom. an there was somebody said he comes i'm up river"
 Likely it's him." said Pepper. Cap'n Foss was tellin' how the story was he'd been savin' up fo' mon year to get stake fo' to come down 10 Arkansas City fo' game O poker
 Pears he's reckoned the best player th's is in them parts. an he's been hearin' O yO'uns an yo' game till he's fair sick Fin what l hear he don't drink frequent but when he does start in he won't let no business interfere with it. Mon likely yOll hear i'm him again when he gifts sober
 Its lucky yo' didn't fetch him round when yo' tried, Jake. Yod likely bring scandal onto the place, an l must say Pm c'nsid able s'pris- cd at yo' fo' p'posin' such thing We uns c'n wait till he's sober. I reckon, an then there can't be nothin' said if he does lose his wad."
 Win erbottOm dropped his pipe, opening his mouth 10 speak, but after stepping to picl it up he seem ed to reconsider his speech. and after shaking his head slowly he re marked, T reckon the drinks is on me"
 No one disagreed with so reason able proposition, and nothing more was said about MT Corkns. though one or another of the party kept a tolerably close watch for three or four days on the tavern at which he was known to be stay ing.
 It appeared that MT Corkins did not intend to prolong his period of relaxation unduly, and he was seen on the levee one morning in fairly good condition. On the evening of the same day he appeared at old man Greenlaw's saloon and called for a round of drinks.
 After they had been disposed of he introduced himself, adding that he was a "spo'tin' man i'm up the river what was lookln' to find if Arkansas City was as interestin' as he cone heer'd tell"
 That denends." said old man Greenlaw. 9Th ain't no doubt but Arkansas City is some quiet. most ", but we uns gen'ly finds it in- tresting enough when there's out siders come along, mo special when they're spo'tin' men like yO' say yo' be. What was yo' p'tic'ar lin O spot. stranger?"
 'Where I come from" was the re- sponse, i've uns reckons tn ain't no spot ekl to table stakes draw. p'vidin' the stakes is big enough"
 Well, tn is other things" be- gan Joe Bassett, but Jim Blaisdell promptly interrupted him.
 Quite creek" he said. eff the stakes reely is big enough. What do yo' uns reckon is about the right siZe?'