Show DONT QUESTION POKER I There Are Times When it is Considered Very Bad Form w k A A A A A AA AAA j IT HERES almighty queer people I comes com aboard o these boats boat sometimes omet said Caleb Mix the bartender on the Mississippi I river packet City Ity of Natchez Natch that ran TU between and New Orleans Even now you see em sometimes an there is trips now HR r again when take the boat for a bughouse Mt pa heels but bit somehow you eem to see so eo on ti em as theta there was as a gooc flY years ago For Por one thing the gamblers was waa the rivers them times and nowadays aint none ione on em or none to t peak of Th r another Ung was vas there tere wa inor men nw moy moyL L in fl thia tit Hitre i now i iI I aint a t they vaa vae to find Ind trouble want ant But Butth th they y was the kind o men that ti i per rever step tep out o 0 the way if they seen en enany any trouble comin toward em emI I 1 remember a felle feller that come down th the river on the theold oM Creole Belle that I was orkin on long in the He HeI I got on at Helena Ark air he hat haf to tell nobody t hed come down quite recent fm th Ozark mountains To begin with t Ith lie fie were ere a foot tal lern Irn any ny man ha eany call to be Mostly those men that thit live in the mountains is 1 tall I reckon they has hae to toLe Le je to see over the tops o a things but buthe hf he were outrageous ta Dressed Tolerably Rough Hough Then he no were rough e en for or them d a when the theve e wa wis a smart nert o 0 worn in a good many parts par o 0 the south An Anthen Anthen then he had t talk o e te Dye ever eser hear WeH w they tell people fm all the diff states by their i alk au en I dont kH them th m t tat at can Jo lo ft I can tella teli fm a nWe U but I d dent nt ret kon I i l pick out any ny particular locality th tb An you youa youL L a nt never mace no tE a at t m there rn Ti n he wo gun so O careless eleos vou ou cd ed see he butto H k out of Ins his Twant no revolver Revolvers want them days But Bu te a ou ebar i pl d derringer fit a good on one An he her hev v ore r knife that he want bett kt hid hidI I at him close when t he come esne aboard to myself he e was wag a queer lot an what sort hed turn out to be fm the usual run I reckoned it were almost likely bed hed prove to be a fighter an I says to thyself myself be bad for the theother other feller He had irma arms on him that reared pared to be a yard an a half long an anas anas as big as a mans leg up by the shoulder shoulder der an he carried mighty straight an moved m ved like a eat cat They Tackled Slingsby well Weil he pear to be none quarrelsome the first day or two He come Into my room a good deal an a powerful sight o corn juice but it seem to take no hold on him ony to make hint him more sociable Told old me tue all about an his hia farmer find an his little place up in the mountains just juet like a boy would tell an be told me what me that he be was rich Not just juat rick rich for a mountaineer but very rich Feared he owned two sugar planta plantations 1 t down the river that had come to him by will from his hie uncles an aa lived up where he did just because he allan alias LudT Lud ud I T reckon be he must ha told some oth others ers er on the boat for I tell nobody t u when Wh we got to Arkansas Arkansan City th und tO do ashore tho e an n when wien the Creole Belle pulled out fm cm there there was two o ohe ohe he Arkansas Arkan s City poker players tray trav ella ein along with us usI usI I dont know whether we ever run tp ip against that crowd or not Likely 4 T ot for this yere were nigh fifty year ago eigo as I was but they was wa the poker players anywhere up an down the river ony they used to go on the boats much Feared though t heerd o 4 tills thi here Roy By Slingsby that was the thet tall all t Ozark mountains man manan n they about him like most in Arkansas did know So talked it over an Jake Mid nd Joe Bassett had come aboard to take a short trip on a speculation Didat Appear Quarrelsome Well they tackled Slingsby like come on board to do fore t teen cen aboard nwe moe n i two hours Got I V ira to drinkin which were an easy eay ing to do an er while they were over then their drinks they got draw poker an Slingsby said he brow Krow about it That to be a monstrous queer thing even for them times Poker want nt played so much as it were twenty ty years later but most meet everybody played it more or less an for a man manin manin in Arkansas to let on that he know the game were a surprise fr l anybody to hear an I thought Winter bottom an Bassett would fall down N when they heerd it But Slingsby went on to explain that hed seen the game played but never took no interest In It be bei i aUae he was a great oW sledge player there was a half a donen old Miers that played old sl sledge dg where he come ome from an they was suited so well that they never took the pains to learn no other game An SUc were bent beat on old after introduced the subject Tried to banter em Into a 4 game hut but I seen em lookin at each her kind D curious when he be proposed I f an then Bassett he says ys We lont dont know about old pardner sane same as you dont know cothin about poker Wed lilt like to play keerd mighty well both on us ua but bat likely we cant make up no game gatOs It Was a Bluff O 0 cose that were a bluff an twant no time at all afore they was wan all three about whether pay poker per or old sledge An just juat nat naturally beth beta one to two was tire the one to give in tie said he was willin enough to if arc arn long as an he get nobody i t play his game So they got the cards I and chips from me an set right down i la ja little back room that I had bad for I that care vare about in the main saloon There was war some even them times but I dont reckon three cared ony handy I light I where they was say nay it was more fun than thea a 1 monkey to see that his instructions He had to be told some mine 1 haK a dozen times i Twant though to tell t him hOt but once about the chips He hi hii 50 O with he others like fifty j no moren one which likely twant to t him himI I But when it come com to the hands he hey y to a be stupid like an alter after a awhile while he wrote em all out on a paper ae alt kept the paper longside of him to look at After that he got along bet better better ter but he hop kep gettin mixed up in the play an made the aire mistake so often that l I begin to think after a 3 time t was wrong a like any man that how to play card at all have hae no such trou bleas his as he was bavin r game Barrett an didn t pear to suspicion Ulet Jy 17 they waso set on gettin Slingsby 4 to pia pla t I they stop to think F they kep on Win as thought was good f 9 r Irm ii F and hI about ai a that h n TL A 4 way to t make you ou I grieve An In the meantime they was wa waI I in bets beta now an again tn Ut t et up mgt Y a fitly in a little bIle He Ke pear to make no count o 0 that an ar another fifty like be he was a cigar but the second went the fir an when I see him flash his roll for more chips I nye to myself there was queer I about it itI Kymi X If he was as rich as he said I it seem likely t he was goin to 1 thron r tr Dills bills away to po t t VP ap very long toog I AH of a I iced etA a A geat rest bite I light It was deal an Winter I I bottoms age e ar r aa ow as Bassett looked at his cal he ho ow e in Then said Mb i heM hed play on his hand h ae ix too tim Then Thea r H it S 5 an Bas Bast tt IM hed ed like to hist it his own en oni tor Sling y out I c fee Mis Ii wanted Winter bottom to a as Well weIl as Jake But he raise and Slingsby comes come in Good Pot That made a pot of nigh 2 O before the draw a as called for ow card The i h be took one I earl card an Slingsby looked at his hand for quite a spell sn in then saya with a art rt f laugh thit he recKoned hed do doU U like the others other Ws pan on an take one Then o coarse It were an he bet 10 Singsby seen the an raised it ten an come back with ten more an put up lOs his little twenty Then raised it twenty twenty ty a an Bassett made it more morean morean an made Then Than they dug out nut their wads an raised it fifty an Bas Baa Bassett sett made iliade it fifty more an Slingsby again made good O 0 course they want really bettin agin one another an was boy ony to fei could carry Slings SlIng aIg g gIn rv rvIn In Wm him a chance an so the ay x WeH ell it toe easy to carry him along Tb each other five time Umee fifty at itt a time an mad thada rood good each time without sayin till It come the sixth time round Then he says kind o low an careless carelee like Pears like you gentlemen thinks youve got some pretty good cards an anI anI I dont know but what maybe you have but this is kini o low Stid o rats rate in It in little hunks chunks lets make it m in we make it a thou thousand thousand sand more An n he down a 1000 bill They Sat Up Straight Well say says If hed ha slapped them two men mei la In lh the face fa e they ha set up straighter nor more sudden They did a o for a few minutes an sit then they laid down their cards both on em m which alays peered to me like mighty good poker though I never know d What any one o othe othe the three men held But looked at Bas Baa Bassett sett ett an Bassett at torn tom an they got up Tm Im the table kind kindo o 0 slow slew an n solemn like without sayin An ast em if they waat wat goto oln to play no more Then they says no thaL he to be pretty fast an maybe didn t need no more instruction Slingsby he laughed an he be says the way they felt about it maybe better take their money lack back Hed ed took out what he hed d bet an he ee pushed the rest over toward table em ei across the Well WeH that em for tor fair an au Bassett ast hira what he meant jm an says n dont money made Just like that Chat You think gentlemen he aya that Just because a man don dont t understand dr draw w poker very well he ii dont know knew how to handle owls cards Then Than Bassett seemed to get a gleam o 0 that tOme same white light an he lost his temper l you ou was then he says nays very verr nasty uty like SH s y Was 55 very OY cool I Ch did you say he says very quick An what de do you say about It he says to he looked mighty ugly an he says Looks like it That was all he b said hut but that was enough was shot out Them big arms o like piston rods an he grabbed Win with his hia left eft hand and Bas Baa Bassett sett with his right an jus just beat em together till they was vas both limp an helpless an au the i he be em in the corner o 0 the room an to me h be am amI I Sat Jast see hey get their money when they reel feel a little better an as he walks oft o to hIa state room an alt I don dont t see him no moreS They 0 say nobody ever licked I Joe Bassett in City an I hajn t no doubt its so SQ but J I never heerd o off there Inter Ocean |