The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-11-16

He had long since retired from &C
tive business.
His circle of friends was small
Hence this business of playing pi-
portant factor in his life.
Ii served to keep his mind occupied;
ii served also TO keep him mentally
alert
Thus reasoning. IL occurred TO Blaine
that il would be an act of kindness TO
permit his father 10 win the contest
Defeat might have a dangerous reac
ton.
1t would not be a difficult feat to
accomplish this end, he reflected.
II would be simple. during one Of
Austin's dozes, TO discard trump that
might otherwise form a royal mar
riage.
The old man would never notice,
would chuckle over his sons inability
TO meld a high score.
And so. with this In mind, Blaine
waited until the deciding game Of the
contest; waited. in fact, until the game
was near its end, noting with some
satisfaction that the score was nearly
equal, the victor doubtful; waited IN
Ill old Austin's head nodded and his
eyes closed for an instant. and then
swiftly slid an ace Of trumps on the
draw pile, knowing full well the old
man would pluck ii from the pack on
the next play. thereby completing a
sequence in his hand and winning the
game.
The plan worked beautifully. save
| for the fact that Austin. with the ace
in his hand. did not meld his sequence.
Somewhat puzzled. annoyed because he
had figured wrongly in supposing his
father held q sequence. Blaine made
his own draw and found himself with
a hundred aces.
He hesitated, then NEEDED them, feel
ing assured that on the next play Aus
| tin would complete his sequence, scor-
ing for himself 80 points.
But this didn't happen.
The game ended, with Blaine as the
victor; victor. also. Of the contest.
His first reaction was chagrin be
cause Of the failure of his plan.
He felt also a deep sensation Of pity
toward his father.
But Austin was above all else a good
loser. and by the time BIaine's visit
was ended other matters came TO &C.
cupy his mind and he did not again
reflect on the outcome Of the contest.
Blaine returned TO Boston directly
after supper on Sunday night, and fol-
lowing his departure Austin stretched
out In his favorite chair before the
open fire and stared at the blaze in
moody silence.
He remained thus for so long that
Mrs. Metcalf was at length moved TO
question him.
And Austin looked at her and smiled.
and there was a contented express
sion in his eyes.
Il was thinking Of Blaine" he said.
smiling. Ever since Blaine has been
q youngster we've played pinochle to-
gether. and the boy has come TO take
the game pretty seriously. He's good
loser, never offers post-mortemS, but |
know it hurts him when / win. Well,
since he's had that job in Boston /
feel he shouldn't be disturbed by out
side affairs weighing on his mind. At
first | thought he'd forget about our
pinochle games, but when he suggested
this last contest, | could see his inter-
est was as keen as ever. And, so, tax
ing everything into consideration, I fig
ured il wouldn't be so good for his
state Of mind If he didn't win"
The old man paused and chuckled.
$50 | made believe | was doing;
gave him a chance to get in a couple
Of good plays without letting him know
l was watching. And il worked, too!
We finished up tonight, and the boy
won. He didn't know ii, but during
that last hand l held a sequence and
never NEEDED ii, just SOS he could
win"