| Show Betting J a Certainty St la the British army in India but tl ling among be officers olten runs Ito I-to an extreme 01 vice baS IB sometimes S some-times fearlul to contemplata Per S bapg it is no worse than in club JiJe Sin S-in London wbre be most amuainjr S 5 as well aa tragical stories are told of 5 t the curious bete thai are made flatting flat-ting on a certainty is held to be unfair unless the avowal ia distinctly made eo that no undue advantage is taken An officer ID too army bud imported im-ported lor his private apartments S 1 new and beautiful maghoeany table S J S A day or two after it bad arrived and had been duly installed in his i S quarters a brother officer a great S swell and very unpopular dropped Sin S-in very familiarly and greatly admired S ad-mired the beautiful table The S owner was shaving himself at the glass I S wish bis back to his visitor Col S S I Brownbut centinued the conversation t h conversa-tion until tho Colonel withdrew the S S latter remarking that ne hoped HOOD S to bave his legs under that elegant maabogany Tqe owner of the table whom we T must call Major Jones made up a little dinner party in he courae of 0 few days and Colonel Brown was one f of the number It was natural that k the new table should be the subject S S of remark and Brown who afleoted l S to be a connoieseur in all mattes said the table was pe feet with one S exception S Jones And pray what ia that Cot oncl S onclBrown Brown It is just a little to high S Jones Do yen think eo How S thigh j t-high would you suppose it jo bar S S Brown I presume it is the usnal S r height jUt 36 inches and it ought te be leas than that by at least half an inch S Jones That ia the exact height S S thirtyfive and a half inches not S hirty3ir < aa you suppose i Brown Pardon me I am certain j it is three Jest high I will make you S t u bet on it S S Jones You will lose if you do for S S 4 I give yon uotioa that I know its exact S height to half an inch and if I bet I shall bet on a dead certainty Brown I am just as sure aa you S S are I am betting on a certainty nice S my eye never deceivea me I will lay S you 100 or 1000 that this table ie k tbirtysis inches high no more no I lees The Major sought to dissuade his S 5 guest from bis purpose tq make a bet S assuring him that he knew the height of the table and did not want to b Hon H-on a certainty but when tho excitement excite-ment crew furious the wager wag finally laid at tho enormous BumI S have beard it i elated as high aa 50 S 000510000 That seems preposterous S prepos-terous when euch a trifle was the S subject but the gambling spirit does S I not stick at triflies When the bst S tisg was finally arranged Cal Brown exclaimed exultantly I told you I S knew the table was exactly thirty air S inches high I did know it because S wlen I called just after it arrived I S tcok its measure on my cano as I et bl it and iound it to be aa I bavo S aid precisely thirtyusix inched high S Yes said Major Jonas I waa sitting with my back to you but I S was shaving bslora the lookinKBlasSi and I saw you casing the measare of S S the table with your cane Suspecting 5 that you were preparing for a bet as S to its height after you left I had half 5 an inch token ofl and it is now precisely pre-cisely thirty five and a hall inches S S iLt high S The applause that followed this re S suit was tremendous and completed S the discomfiture of the unpopular colonel It was evident that he had t been laying a plan to cheat and S r 5 would have pocketed the money if be won He was sent to Coventry He sold bit commission and returned to S 5 England being unable to stand up f against the contempt of tho officers S S who thoroughly despised his character charac-ter Harpers Jyazine i j J1l lr > i |
