Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-12-05

dred and forty dollars in his pockets.
eight dollars and forty cents on the
table before him, and surging sorrow
in his heart.
There are places on the North Ameri-
can continent where the possession OF
five aces would be regarded as repre-
hensible. but in Texas such q hand Is
honorable. although extremely excep-
.tional In Texas the poker deck always
contains the Joker, which counts. at
the players option, as an ace or any
needed part Of flush or straight.
Whence came this custom no one
seems to know. 1t is not true, how
ever. as has been reported, that the
matter Is provided for In the state
constitution or the revised statutes;
Capt Bill had Just received the
aces pat, and Joy would have filled his
breast. instead of sorrow, had condi-
tions been reversed so that he had
the table and eight dollars and forty
cents in his pocket. because Dr.
Bannister had opened the pot for two
dollars. and Warland, sitting next, had
tilted 1t q little to keep the pikers
out" Obviously there were opportu-
mites in this particular hand. but they
were opportunities. alas! in which he
could not hope to participate. For
there Is another Texas custom that
fettered him: In the he, Lone .ss, star state E.
and he was limited. for that hand, to
&. the eight forty.
Mournfuliy, when it came his turn.
he pushed in his little pile. He was
with persinage. IT KANT do nothin'
but shoot my wad," he remarked.
DIR. Bannister studied his own hand,
measured stack Of chips up to Bits
level and added five dollars we
ratin' into a children's game" he an
nounced. Two men dropped out. War
land reraised the doctor. and Bill. able
wereiy to wait for a sight In the
pot and assured that that AL ao, hs eo and
forty cents apiece from the three play
ers who had remained, relapsed into
uinterested gloom.
DR. ssnnister enT .st =, 1 Po he raIs w
ing. who had dragged along; studied
his cards contemp1atively. The time
has come" he declared with finaHty.
..to turn the erring offspring from the
door," He threw the hand away ana
lighted . fresh cigar:
Warland remained in and there was
some betting Capt. Bill paid little
attention to its details. His mind was
sadly contemplating what execution
he might have done with his nve aces u
jus1 before the beginning Of that hand
instead Of thinking he would wait one
more deal before replenishing. Final.
ly warland, who had drawn one caro-
and filled . high fu:h; called IL the &c eoS,
eight full The doctor looked inquir-
ingly At Capt. Titus.
Got anything prettier than tnasF
." NO" snsrted Bill. spreading them
face mp. "Nothin' a-tall-except Buck,
Ball. Billy. Beauty and Bucephalus
That's ,s1i.>, An me .sfttin here with
just enough vested capital In 'front.' OF
my vest 20 net me Che sum OF twensy.
iost nlnety dollars since nat IN.
and when nay chance comes to taxa
the shirts OF the backs Of you pie |
eyed crooks I'm absent nein up on
Hortense! Thsrs 10 luck and inck. and
I know when to quit Ne. now. I'm
going to cash In the whole thirty
three-sixty and carry 1t home with
me-, and about twenty minutes from
now am going to tuck me IN my IT.
:.Fsr be It from me to object II the
session II broken up" acquiesced
warland. rafting his winnings. But
why to bsd7 u isn't tom n.n1r,,ob get d.
clared Bill. Those nve aces pat
jumpin' grsasers, but never see EN-
pat before In all my more than thirty
years Of earnest acticeLclinched u
Luck8 08Gn OTCSkm IOSSCA "hSAA Say
lately. Nobody's payin' any principal
and most Of 'em want to stand on the
interest I've been gently notified Of
two passed dividends. haven't SOLO
An acre in ten days. I KANT WIN At
draw. I'm bored. I'm ongweea. ! have
decided to 60 away from here"
"WhitherT' asked the Chief OF Po-
lice mildly, proceeding to cash up the
outstanding chips.
I'm goin' up and down the eartn
San 'Ntonio. take in the carnival: and
look At the pretty peerade. There
after it is for fate to say. may
stay Q week and / may stay forever.
the real estate shop: he never did sell
any land yet. but maybe he can. I
had hoped to do this on your money. |
but my own will have to do. 30
start in the mawnin' at seven-hfteen |
if the flyer breaks all presidents and
sleep. Therefore. I may not 1inger |
with you only long enough to take |
little goodnight snifter, in case Reese
gets his mind of his winnins long
enough to remember to ask US. Holy
maverick! All Of EN- pat. = flush and
a full house out. and q net return Of
twenty-nve-twenty"
Forgetting for q moment the fve
aces and the fact that you would have
had plenty Of money in front Of YOU
II you hadn't tried to pike along
said Joe Ansell. and ceasing to talk |
foolish, about how long do you really |
think you will be absent from our
.I'n never forget 'em" replied Bill
sternly. "And-here's how. Reese!-I,,
ehhll not come back for . week unless
] find excitement has departed from
san 'Ntonio as bad As 1t has from this
dead burg"
Boys will be boys" remarked An
sell, who was at least ten years
younger than Bill and had twice as
much hair.
And 30 good night" grinned Bill.
in the doorway. Great stnsin rattle
snakes; Five aces pat and i
Captain Bill Titus. in his go-to-the-
city clothes, was at the railroad sta
ton the next morning at about the
time the San Antonio-bound train
called flyer" along the line only by
station agent informed him cheerily
that the train would be about a half
hour earlier than usual. being at last
reports only forty minutes late.
1t was a fresh-shaven. twinkling-
eyed. ruddy-faced. carefree Bill that
strolled up and down the platform.
William r Titus days as cowpuncher.
deputy sheriff. ranger and all-around .
adventurer were years behind him. II
he still affected top boots. a belt. no
brimmed. high hat it was be-
cause he liked them. and for no rea-
son OF necessity. He owned the bank
in his little city. the biggest real
estate addition In south Texas. and
sundry pieces of realty here and there
throughout the STATE. in which holes
had been drilled out OF which oil
flowed in gratifying quantities, Also
there was prosperous ranch ten
miles from Summerton.