Year: 1870




whiskers and moustache. Thi,
savage-looking figure was habitec
in the costliest clothing, anc
adorned with profusion of jew
elry, while the outlines of sever
al murderous weapons were plain
ly distinguishable beneath BIZ
gaudy vest and superfne coat
Nor did he need this to render hin
an object of terror. A connois
seur In the science of belligerent
gymnastics would have confident
ly pronounced him a match fol
any five men on the deck, without
any aid from lead or cold steel


At length, after many failures
he prevailed on a wealthy young
merchant of Natchez to Join him
at a game of poker. They sal
down beside a small table near
the bar, and we're soon absorbed
In that most perilous of all ex.
elements, of which the two al.
Turing ingredients are vanity and
pride of individual skill, and the
uncertainty of general hazard.
At first the stakes were small, and
the run of cards seemed wholly in
favor of the merchant; but pres
emily they bet more freely, and
gold eagles and hundred dollar
notes were showered down on the
board with extravagant ardor
and then the current of fortune
changed--ebbed away from the
young merchant and flowed to the
professional gambler in a stream
like the oceans tide. AS usually
happensin in such cases, hislosses only
piqued and maddened the loser,
and he sought to recover himself
by venturing such desperate VEN
lures as could not but deepen and
confirm his ruin. And thus they
continued during that long sum-
mer night. The intensity of their
excitement became equivalent to
insanity. Every nerve was strung
every energy of brain was taxed
to the utmost-the teeth were set
hard as those of antagonists in
the tug of mortal strife-the
sweat rolled from their brows like
great drops of rain.


The passengers formed a circle
around the players, and looked on
with that interest which such ex
trao. dinary concentration of in
tellect and passion never fails to
inspire even in bosoms that shud-
der at its excess. The merchant
and the gambler attracted all eyes
and kept many awake and gazing
till morning. Among the latter
was one presenting a countenance
SO piteous that it might have mel
ted hearts of marble to tears. A
pale and exquisitely beautiful face
peeped incessantly from the half
opened door of the ladies' cabin,
weeping all the while as if op-
pressed by some dreadful sensa.
tion of immedicable sorrow. 1t
was the merchants lovely wife
weeping her farewell to departing
hopei


There was one spectator also,
whose appearance and actions ex-
cited almost as much curiosity as
the players did themselves. He
was tall, spare man of about
thirty, with handsome features,
golden hair, keen blue eyes of
preternatural brightness, and his
firm, thin lips wore a perpetual
smile--a mysterious smile of the
strangest, the most inscrutable
meaning. With the exception of
his red calico shirt, this person
was dressed wholly in buckskin,
ornamented with long swaling tas-
sells, and wild figures wrought out
of variegated beads after the fash
ion of some western Indians. He
stood close beside the card table,
and held in his left hand a sheet
of paper, in bis right a large pen
Gil, with which ever and anon he
dashed off a few words, as if en-
gagged in tracing the progress Of
the game.


Still the merchant and the gam
bier persevered in their physical
and mental toll. The dial of the
stars, with its thousand fingers
of golden fire, pointed to the
world-shadows of midnight; but
still they did not pause. It still
was "shuffle and cut, and pass,
ante up, and / call you, and rake
down the pile" Toward the
morning a tremendous storm arose.
The red lightning flashed awfully
the hail poured like a frozen cat
aract--the great river roared till
it rivaled the loudest thunders of
heaven; and the very pilot at the