Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-08-04
Jack of
Diamonds
At Times the Hand Is
Quicker Than the Eye
By MARVIN DANA
Copyright by Frank A. Munsey Co.

Observation-Disclosures
1t happened more than score Of
years ago. The golden spike had just
been driven at Portland, Ore.-that
last spike of the Northern Pacific rail.
road by which the continent was span
ned.
Helena, Mont. was In the heyday
Of lusty, unabashed, crude youth. The
released graders from the completed
railroad thickened the crowds In its
streets. All had money; all were afiame
to spend 1t. The ugly main street was
two lines Of saloons, dance halls, gam
bling hells, all open. all crowded from
dawn to dawn.
OF the several busy ministers Of for
tune then and there present, Railroad
Jim was the busiest. He ran little
game Of three card monte In a back
room off the Montana Parlors, by which,
name was gloritied one Of the smallest
and worst saloons In the town.
He was busy indeed, for custom was
brisk. and he had no assistant. An
assistant, to have been anything but
costly luxury, must have had fingers
as agile as Jim's own, in their peculiar
way. Such one was not to be had
very readily. The last had been shot
by an indignant victim. In Railroad
JIm's opinion. the man had deserved
his fate, for he had been culpably
careless, almost awkward, and had
thus invited his doom.
So now, perforce, Jim totled inde-
fatigably. When he slept was mys-
terry beyond any mans solving. His
meals were sandwiches, swallowed dur
ing the progress Of the game. His sole
drink was coffee.
OF course such labor deserved re-
ward, and equally Of course Railroad
Jim had 1t. A steady stream Of men
slouched from the saloon into the back
room and anon slouched out again,
much poorer and not whit the wiser
for their experience
But there were no omplaints-except
against the goddess of fortune, who, in
truth, was most ungallantly and vigor
Ously cursed betimes. Yet, while the
losers reviled their own bad judgment
or Ill luck. they candidly admired Jim
for the deXterity with which he be-
fooled them. For he won honestly
he ran square game" trusting to the
artfulness of his ten fingers for bis
modicum Of profit.
All who gambled there knew that
Jim was honest, because he held the
game down to limit. ANY one can
see that had he cheated, the limit
would have been n palpable absurdity
No man would refuse to take all he
could get on certainty.
But Jim, aware that a sufficiently
acute observer might sometimes pick
the right card, refused to accept any
single bet of more than 5000. To be
sure, no one had as yet offered to bet
so large an amount on one throw OF
the cards, but that fact nad no mnu-
ence on public opinion.
Jim was. large man, with q large
nose, a large chin. lofty bald skull
and bulging. CLASSY eyes. He was not
at all pretty, but very imposing. He
had big hands. too-hands that were
like brooding wings over the three
cards with which he toyed 30 con-
stantly.
1t was really an edifying spectacle
to behold those hands as they manipu-
lated the three cards-the ten Of
spades, the ten Of clubs. the jack OF
diamonds. The cards seemed never
quite to disappear from view. More
over, the movement was rather slow
than hurried.
The faces Of the cards were first ex-
hibited. two in the right hand. one IN
the left. Then they were held backs
up and deposited softly, one by one.
on the table. All one need do was to
keep an eye persistently on the jack
of diamonds-tO watch 1t unwinkingly
till 1t was at last put down. Then 1t
only remained to place the bet and
finally to turn over the card selected.
Unfortunately for the crowd. this
card was rarely the jack. The unhap-
DIV losers shook their heads and rue
fully admitted that Railroad Jim was
"a cussed slick un with tn paste
boards"
Among many others. Old Ike lost.
He had been In Helena just n week.
and already he was q familiar figure
In the various resorts. He was a man
Of about sixty. short, thin. clean shaw.
en-. bright eyed. taciturn.
He drank moderate amount Of
whisky without going on the rampage.
and he gambled here and there. also
In moderation. Every night he drop
ned In ut the Montana Parlors and
regularly made two fifty-dollar bets
with Railroad Jim. In his fourteen
efforts he had lost precisely 500.
However. he took his losses calmly
and remarked each night that he
guessed he could afford 1t. whereby ak
| his hearers knew him to be a man Of
wealth.
On the eighth night Of his stay In
helena Old Ike got drunk. He visited
every bar in the place and drank at
each with democratic impartiality.
Anon he varied this pursuit by a mild
| effort to beat faro game, in which he
failed ANONYMOUSLY.
1t was near midnight when he stag
gered into the Montana Parlors and In.
vited every man there present to the
bar. Having drunk. Old Ike announc-
ed to all and sundry that he purposed
"buckin' ag'iif' Railroad Jim's monte
game.
In the back room the crowd made
way for him, and he stationed himself
directly opposite the manipulation OF
the cards. With garrulous comments
he made his usual two bets and lost.
Every moment the effects Of drink
showed more plainly in his flushed
cheeks and thickened speech.
Then suddenly. just after the big
hands with the agile fingers had
swept in the second $50. Old Ike be-
came foolish.
"Is tn limit ofYY' he demanded and