The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1916-04-12


often the ground afo' yo' went in. l
never seen mans hungry TO money
s yo' be. Only thing comforts me is
what One Eye done got tollable
good slice O. yo' own wad afo' he got
away. wish to Gawd what he'd a
got the hull on It,"
AT the mere thought Of such catas-
trophe the old man began to whim-
per. says the Washington Post.
Acted for the Best, He Says.
9TH amt no use rubin of 1t in,
joe" he protested, feebly. ~ done
wrong. but / done it TO the best.
Feared like 1t was plumb sinful to
let him git away with all that money"
HE wouldn't a 'toted 1t hellova
ways II I'd had chanel at him."
growled the big man. and the others,
knowing that this was true, and that
their own behavior had been well nigh
objectionable. found nothing to say
in reply.
Even old man Greenlaw himself,
fluent Of speech as he was, could add
nothing to his plea that he done it
TO the best" and not caring to exas-
perate Mr.. Bassett further by repeat
Ing that, he remained silent.
Mr.. Bassett. however, still had things
to say. 1t was not his custom ordi-
narily to use much language, he pre-
ferrlng a more forcible means OF ex-
preston, but this time, having been
outraged in his finer feelings. he real
lied that he constituted a majority OF
the gathering and he proceeded to
speak with emphasis.
IF had hound pup. an couldn't
learn him no mo- n yo' pears to
know. judgin' from yo' fool diddins, |
sho would swap him off TO- skunk,
SOS to have the satisfaction o. KILN
the skunk. 'Taln't as il Ono Eye had
MT never been hyar afo'. / sho' was
as ign'ant as yo' be the first time he
done come. an I didn't had no 'bjec-
tions to playln' poker with him, no
mo- n nobody else.
Experience Didn't Count.
But / don't have to have no low
down whelp O. hell play hawss with
me mo- n onc't afo' l knows what'd
ought TO- to be did. Pears like a wild
ass O. tho wilderness d know that
much. instead O. which yo' uns sets in
with him s frequent s he sees fit 10
come to Arkansas City. He's done
done 1t repeated, an yo' uns lets him
git away with yo' money ev'ry time"
The bitterest part of this bitter ar
raignment, in the estimation Of those
who heard 1t. was It's truth. others
besides the one-eyed man had on oc-
casions played poker in the little back
room of Old Man Greenlaw's saloons,
without losing all they had, and at
rare intervals some one would go away
with more than he had when he sat in,
but no other OF these had ever re-
turned save one jovial squire who
lived near Arkansas City, and who
reckoned his losses in the game as a
legitimate part Of the cost Of his ex-
penses when he sought relaxation in
the dizzy whirl OF urban excitement.
But One Eye had returned again
and again at the imminent peril OF his
life, and with flendish craft had not
only evaded Bassett and sat in at the
game with the others, but had been a
winner each time, and had borne away
his booty unscathed. 1t was the sad
dest chapter in the history Of the
place. And Bassett was the only one
Of them all who had not been be-
guiled by his willy tricks.
Ranked In Their Memories.
His latest adventure OF the kind was
Of recent occurrence. and the smart
OF 1t still ranked In the memory OF
the old man and his friends. They
would fain have forgotten it, but this
Bassett would not permit. Daily and
almost hourly he heaped his re-
proaches on them, and they. knowing
themselves to be utterly blameworthy