Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1914-07-31

Just to try them out we got the poker
playing chinks into a game for cactus
needles. They were masters all right.
but | thought my game was better
than theirs.
We'll, pay day came at last, and
that night we went over to the section
house for a session. The two China
men who sat in the game held better
hands that | did, but l played cautious,
ly, and Murphy was cleaned out first. |
had n SO gold piece left. When we
drew cards zone of the Cinnamon
dropped out. The other bet me $40.
/ had a pair of queens and was about
to throw down my cards and quit
when | heard a faint but unmistakable
message in Morse:
dash, dot-dash-dash, dot dot,
dash, dot-dash-dash, dot dot
1.-TWO two.
1T flashed through my mind that
the heat had begun to affect me, but 1
was always ready to play lunches, SO
bet my ten. The Chinaman dropped.
| saw his hand, and all he held was a
pair of deuces. Thinks / to myself,
The heat devils must have been on
the job that time, sure. III listen for
'em again
Il held good hands the next round
or two and raked in some fair pots.
But | could see that the Cinnamon
were laying for me. Apparently they
had the aggregate capital of all their
companions, and I could see that I was
likely to be cleaned out in the end.
But, as a man once said, The next
greatest pleasure to winning money at
cards is to lose it, and so l stuck. I
was down to my original $50 when |
drew three queens on the deal, but did
not improve them on the draw. Still,
they looked good. Again l had my
Chinese friend as my sole opponent. 1t
was his bet and he pushed forward
$50. I was lingering my gold pieces
when l heard the muffled message in
Morse again:
d~ot-dash-dot, dot dot, dot-dot-dash,
dot dot-dot, d~ot-dot-dot, dot-dot.
Observation-Disclosures
-Four six.
THAT to keep out I said to
myself. The bunch was a good one. !
laid down. 1t was my deal, and !
looked at the cards. Four skies.
Il was about $3.50 to the good when
a jack pot came along. / opened it
with a pair of jacks and drew a third.
I bet them as if / had half a dozen,
and the second chink dropped out
leaving my old Chinese friend. He
raised me the size of my pile, and l
was studying what to do when | heard
the muffled code again:
dash, dot-dash-dash. dot dot, dot
dot, dash-dot, dot
Two one.
I showed over the ten and called.
Two aces!
Then | began to play the cards very
close to my chest and to wait for the
code message whenever a crisis arose.
1t always came and was always right.
The Cinnamon were excited. They
went out and returned with more gold.
Along about three in the morning !
had about $4,000 dollars stacked up in
front of me. The boss Chinaman
seemed to have been delegated by the
others to carry on the game, and he
and | were the only players. 1t was a
duel between the white and the yellow
hope. We did not play real poker.
We were too excited. I bluffed and
the Chinaman bluffed; but | did it a
bit better, and l kept on winning. The
last bag of gold was on the table be-
fore the Chinaman. l had forgotten
about the Morse messages.
He dealt. / had a pair of kings.
I bet about $4,000 or some such trife
before the draw. / took three cards
und got three jacks. The Chinaman
took three also, and bet half a dozen
stacks of double eagles. / went back
and raised him. He came back at me
with two or three pounds Of gold coin,
and as / skinned my cards I heard
the Morse again:
dash, dot-dot-dot-dot, dot dot-dot.
dot, dot, dot dot. dash-dot, dot
Three one.
"The instant the sound caught my
a 4 showed the size of his pile on
the table-we were playing table
stakes. The Chinaman met me, and
it was a showdown. He had three
aces against my jack full. When the
chinks say this they gave a yell and
wanted to massacre me, but Murphy
and / drew our guns and stood them
OFF. We got over to the box a safely,
Pete acting as real guard, growing
savagely. and showing his teeth all
the way.
1--WE sat down and Pete jumped up
ON the telegraph table. He sat on his
launches with an open=mouthed grin,
and his stubby tail pounded against
the boards. 1t was still outside, and
my ears caught the mufied Morse
again. 1t was Pete tapping with his
tail:
dash, dot-dotdot-dot, dot, dot-dot
dot-dot, dot-dot dot, dot-dash.
dash-dot, dash, dash-dot-dot-dot,
dot, dot-dash, dash. dot-dot-dash.
dot-dot-dot,
~" .a-x -. Z L .ELI