The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1912-07-17

had been better able to observe as a spectator
than as a player and both agreed that the
hands on which Jimmy had won the most
money had been set Up for him % lose, moth
Ing having saved him bat phenomenal luck
il the o,lt ONE of his freak draws.
One thing was certain, Jimmy had their
monev in bis pocket. more than eight hundred
doilal5 Of il, and the only thing lett to be done
was t. get of the boat with il Atkins said
The oolored Walters had told hum Jimmy
"couldn'l never get away Wild dat money no
how, ancl tic Judged tha; the cat;,e mems
plan was sin.ply 10 Keep mans money if
;Ecy won j., but ii man won thens they
would tal'c il away from him by some lae"ns
or other /; was tins part Of their program
tat h2,. g:7rn The cattle men such an EVIL
reputation.
Feau-g som slch conclusion 10 the pres
ent a,N entdtr, Atl-ns pleaded With Jnamy
mt u 90 on 70 ficltna, but f. lene the ho4t
Yhea Allnls l4t;,,;. Jimmy had done al he
came Ia d. He had played ,he gacic lIc
had @o. tier, money All hc had to @ EoW
was 10 walk ashore with h.s winnings and AXE
aaother boat down to Helena To all this
JIMMY agceed.
But the cattle nlen had o:s.cr plans
Knowing tha; limmy'a III, I'D Vas 10 leave
the boat at the List l.@dirg they woul make
after supper, they said a, thing about c um-
ing the game, but talked about seeing the two
of, and wishing them good lack, and SO forth.
Keeping up this friendly talk and passing
round the cigars, they suggested that the
whole party should take a look al tie boat's
cargo, which was on the lower dcci, ci course.
Once down there in the darkness, With no
one but few colored roustabouts ling
round the stove near the stern, the cattle n-cn
quickly threw off the mask Of friendship,
Chippy Heinz drawing knife and barring
the way back to the upper deck
You may as well cough up that stuff you
won from US, young feller, began The spokcs-
man Of the party We was all Of lis watching
your little tricks, but we didn't say nothing
afore strangers in the cabin You re dirty
card sharper and you've been stackins the
cards on Us right along Now, you just hand
over that wad OF our good money, and we
won't say nothing about it"
In spite Of Jimpy's indignant protests,
they supported one another i'll their assertions
that they had seea hin cheating
If you don't harii oycl that money pretty
quick, said Fats, coming close up to Jimmy,
" well take it from you, and some Of your
hide with it,"
The man with the knife I'ts7i;g wilkins
back, stepped close up q itnIny's side. aud
brandished the blade in his '4c, aslii.g ia, if
the light was good enough ior him to ste wh2;
that was.
Looks to me like 1t wl3 mata IN Ger
many" was all the response be go; We
sell that kind at the Store
Atkins was thoroughly frightened and
begged his fren! - settle with lie gentle
men at once. hut jimmy cay laughed.
"If they waat ny ino:;-y. let tsrm 90
through my. clothes 'oz IT." lie said "lf
they think I'msa Cheat lei them be thieves
Then wen be square
Just then the bell ring for Tommy Atkins
landing and one OF t;e cattle men told
him TO stay rig hit where be was vhllc another
went to his stateroom and :ctchr'l hi spip
and oyercoat Atkins was so t.cfougiiiy
frightened that it was not :,,ce:Sary u ten
him twice not to speak abo,es 's,Asper, ne.
to dare to give look or sign q. aasnmsy l,s,:
to walk right off the boat, and strr.g' uf The
levee and to stay there until the t,;a! paicd
out Then two of them escorted hin 20 ne
gang plank only few seconds before il VAS
pulled in. moment later and the pine torch
was doused and Tommy was in the dart lrss
on the bank
Alone with Jimmy, the men found him as
insolent as ever, and open in the expressionoi
his opinion that they were a lot Of buffers.
Go ahead with your rat killing" was all
they could get out Of him in response to their
threats. you'll never get cent out Of me
unless you take it from my dead body"
Evidently exasperated by his repeatedly
calling them buffers, and telling them he
didn't care what they talked about doing, but
to 90 ahead and do something, they finally
held hurried consultation and ono OF them
left the group for minute or two, returning
with a rope.
Before Jimmy knew what they were about,
they had his arms tied behind him, and were
hustling him toward the side Of the boat, be
hind the big piles of cotton bales, where it
was so dark they could hardly see one another.
After getting him alongside the walking beam
Of the engine, which swung slowly up and
down for about fifteen feet at the side of the
boat, they stopped to tell him some of the
dreadful things they had done to other men
whona they had caught cheating and advised
him to quit his fooling" and settle up, there
being five of them against him, and no one
near but few colored roustabouts, who knew
better than to interfere with white folks. If
he did not hand over that money within FIVE
minutes, they would tie him up to the walking
beam Of the engine and leave j. 70 pull the life
out of him.