The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-05-19
How Molly Burton
Saved Jim Hodson S
Mining Shares
By SADIE OLCoTT

was Il Sslubltl. Il libiot lllltls d llllltl
or something worse than any of these
Molly kept boarding house and was
hail fellow Eell met with her boarders.
who were all men. There was moth
ing squeamish about Molly. but she
was considered perfectly straight. The
only dissipation she INDUCED in was
gambling, and this with her was pas
sion. If she had dollars TO stake she
would play dollars; if she had cents it
would be penny ante She always
played IL fair game and would take no
charity from any one. Once when an
opponent bet to lose purposely in order
TO enable her to recoup she told him
that if he did il again there would be
no more play between them.
Jim Hodson was a miner who had
struck it big. 1t was while he was de
veloping a claim that he came to Mol
ly Burton's house to board She used
to play penny ante with him, but
would never consent to considerable
stake She said that he needed all his
money to get his claim in condition
to offer on the market She also saw
to it that he did not fall into the
hands of card sharps. If she saw him
playing with one of the fraternity she
would ask him for a loan, thereby get.
ting his money out of his hands.
One day Hodson struck a vein that
made his property very valuable. \
company was formed which gave him
large block of stock with plenty
of cash down. He accepted the posi-
ton of superintendent. When not en-
gagged in his duties ut the mine he
played cards at Molly Buron's. Despite
all her efforts to prevent it he was
soon stuck for some $4,000. Molly
played with him in order to keep him
from playing with any one else. He
knew she would take no charity from
him, so he played TO win. In the long
run they stood nearly even
One day Il man got hold of Hodson
and was playing him for all he was
worth when Molly interfered From
that time forward Molly kept Hodson
playing with her all his spare time,
and it soon came to be noticed by those
who overlooked the game that she was
cheating him. This caused great sur
prise, because Molly was known to be
square with every one, especially Jim
Hodson. No one said anything to her
victim about her manipulation of the
cards. That was none of their bust
ness, and any of them would gladly
see her gain.
1t was not known to any one besides
Hodson and Molly how much of his
money she was relieving him of, but
it was considerable. One night when
they were playing together alone Jim
said to Molly:
'If you clean me out, Mol, what'll
you do with the funds"
Marry a good for nothing man"
Don't see what such first class wo
man as you wants with good fol
nothing man."
well, weak woman wouldn't; O
strong one would. It's our opposites
we like"
They were playing ordinary euchre
Molly was turning Jack" on her vic
tim, dealing herself hands to match tn,
trump and every now and again pro
posing 10 raise the sta.,e. Hodson wa,
very stupid l;ol Ia see that he was get
ting slaughtered, but he had no facult.
for cards and was blind as bat t,
sleigh Of hand. Besides, he neve
dreamed that Molly would cheat More
over. there as no money on the table
he was continually signing l. o. US
The truth is he had lost all his casl
and was signing away his stock In til,
mine. Molly knew how many shares
he owned, and. keeping count in he
head, she was aware that she had
o. us for 30 per cent of them. Whel
she took in the final tenth she called
halt and said:
do you own?"
Fifty thousand"
Molly took up the l. O. us and. add
ing the amounts ON them, figured vi
$1,000 shares. Jim turned pale.
You're a good man, JIM" said Mol
ly, land Pm going to give you a chance
to win back your property" Writing
l. o. us, she folded it and told hin
to put 1t in his pocket.
an play all l have won from yol
against what's on that paper"
Jim begged to know what it was
but she wouldn't tell him. He wa,
desperate enough to accept any terms
so he consented. He proposed euchre
but Molly substituted a showdown
poker hand, with Jim for dealer, say
ing that she wanted him to be sur,
that there was no shenanigan. jim
said he was sure of that already. The.
concluded to make 1t the best In thret
hands, and Jim dealt the first hand
Molly won, drawing king with ace
and sevens. Jim had no pair. TIL,
second hand Jim won on tens ant
,deuces. His hand trembled as he deal
the third time, and when the card
were drawn he showed the queen o
hearts high against jack high.
Without waiting for Molly to hanc
over his /. o. us he took out the pa
per she had given him, unfolded 1t anC
read a single word
Yourself"
1t required some time to get tn
meaning through his head, though b
was assisted by a mild blush on Mol
ly's face. When he understood b
reached across the table and took Mol
~ in his arms
This is how Molly saved Jim Hod
sons interest in a mine which eventu
ally became enormously valuable.
IN SEARCH OF HAPPINESS