The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-04-04

CO. And he poured the liquor down
| desperately.
The fnality of this observation was
! SO convincing that nobody found any
thing to add to 1t Immediately. Long
continued silence. however. was alb
horrent to the old ran, and presently
| he said:
That bein' settled pea ceable. meobe
US with while c'nsid'rin' somepin
else. How II We uns was TO have
seitin' at stud? Pears like tn amt 40
chanst o no suckers comm in, beins
tn amt been a stranger In town 20
mo- n week. Mehbe IL We was 20
kyind O spread 1t round what the-
was friendly game goin' on In the
back room. some o the citizens
mousht come in"
How 20 gwine to spread it," asked
Winterbottom doubtfully.
Mo n likely somebody'll come in To-
drink afo' long" said the old ma a
| hopefully. AN II I'm a-settin' at the
taoic ptendin' to he too much int',-
ested into the game To- to terd bar.
he'll tell ii round all right. Then II
! anybody comes in To look on they ca
look Ike n chanst 70 easy money 20
set In ag'n him. - co'se. he won't be
losin' nothin' but chips. but II out
slider sets in the game Ii be 70 real
money. s fur 8 he's c'ncerned"
Sounds trfiin'. but mebbe II mought
be wuth tryin'." said Blaisdell. and
after some further talk the old man
| got out the cards and chips. and they
gathered around the old table in the
back room. They suggested to Mr..
Pepper that he join the party. but he
! seemed suspicious.
"Oh. don't know" he SAID doubt
fully. 81 reckon 7 wouldn't lie liable
to make no greet sum. even alter the
game was TO real money. but they Is
one idee what mought he some use. IT
I was To deal. an yo' uns was to do
! the playin' II mousht kyind % give
outsiders mo confidence into the game
nor they'd he liable to have IL the de al
, passed. bein' they dou't know me =
well s they does yo' uns. 20 cose. Ill
| 'xpect a p'centage on what real money
was played in"
This suggestion was approved. and
accordingly Mr.. Pepper handled tn"
deck while the others went through
| the form Of betting for while. much
as they might have played jack
straws for idle amusement. So purely
! perfunctory was the performance.
/ however. that the seasoned gamesters
/ were about to giv5 over in disgust
when the entrance of casual GUS
/ toner reused them to a show OF in
/ tense interest
The customer. finding to his surprise
that h, could not ct waited on at the
bar. stepped into the back room tn in
vestigate. and the old mans scheme
! worked beautifully. After looking on
/ for a few minutes the newcomer de-
! parted. but returned shortly with two
oompa Mons. and soon after several
others came in.
: The performers IN the fare, that
was being enacted for their bereiit
kept on solemnly. examining the cards
which Mr.. Pepp T. handed out TO them
in regular order and passing chips
from one TO another with all the ap-
/ pearance Of actual transfers of owner
ship. and the oeholders saw no reason
TO doubt that the contest was genuine.
I They were all familiar enough with the
| game to pass judgmen; on the various
plays that were made. and It was not
long before they perceived that At least
two Of the contestants were disregard
In the proba llties TO such an extent
3 that the others We're able to TAXI their
chips from them with considerable
/ ease.
I Moreover. those Two. who were
Pearsall and W.nterbottom. 50 far
from learning caution Il m repeated
disasters. were moved to anger and
showed desperate purpose OF recoup-
. ing by bold ami injudic.ous play.
wherefore IL looked fca sDie for any
who might sit in TO share In the profits
3 of despoil.ng them. And as this was
precisely the effect that the Two de-
sired to produce hey strengthened
the impression they had made by
calling for and consuming additional
stimulants and by reclilessly rep!en-
ishing Their stacks. handing out real
money for more chips.
one Squire Hapsood was among
/ the spectators, he being gentleman
who had recently suffered a relapse
from his habits Of convivia.ity. IN
dulglng temp rar.ly in atstentlon
B
4 sight of easy money. however. over
I came him and he produced his own
wdd.
Gimme a couple a. stacks" he said.
and sat in. Embroidered by his en-
: ample two others f the oTlookers
also bought, and the game Wen, IN
eight handed, with Mr. Pepper Sill
manipulating the deck, but not play
ing.
From the beginning of the sitting
Mr.. Blaisdcll had touched no card in
! the pack save those that We're dealt
! Ia him in due course, aud even now
when outsiders were in the game he
handled no others. and this fact nm
! questionab.y ENCOURAGED the out
slders. for his skin az a dealer had
made him famous.
What was not SO well known was
/ the fact that he was frequently able
to recognize the back OF a card as
/ easily as the face Of IL. once he had
had ii in his fingers. His most init
mate associates, however, had an
lnklng OF the fact If they were not
fully aware OF IT, and in the pre- sem
situation they relied ON him TO bring
I the game 20 conclusion.
( His opportunity came when Squire
/ Iiapgood Played a hand that came to
him in such q way as to indicate, be-
| fore all the cards were dealt, that he