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Show iCHOOL FORJARD SHARPS Uj poker Player Gained His Experience in a Country Coun-try Town and Learned Much. U"v jtock In the usual pa. "' UJ' Dition nM Pon cnrils n" a I tv.ker prevention," continued ""wrThllcopher. 'The forbidden .enoals t tronKly to the lmaK. a Pui' enoush ,0 llond the lddls u ite the glamor by fa- rf M k U n task, explain the tiKKs ct the Bharps and the ,meli H '" of wlllcn the nn" I Ml) i "" "' J'nmlllar- J,"..tc3 Hi" mjstety and the land mik lne "lJect Immune. .irokir' hool uptown. The un- talk " ,he hopefuls of a ? i-d, of it iml 12. n neighbor's , f .bout h "Se and the pu- .1 thi i '-named pair Chips 'L to nt table stakes I '?Bho Hi olden time cheating i ire ompllshed awkward k-ji tli"" perpetrate them a 1 1 the "! play.RlMnn up Ifalh If ' '" At llle clo", of 'VTmi I v back the III gotten ,J,Mhr an, which Is not al- ,V.,i 1 nn1 Cfr'iln tint thli Vkiol tn w'" never Join the Innu-vi Innu-vi ira ii of 'suckers' who, as Teal) h HHeksmlth,' Varley , -remark i in my presence, 'haven t frtTht to a dollar anyway ' BmrlVqu'ied the piestldlRltal skill be la es a fair question nl Jhno nffslonV were promised .. rfhinrs As a matter of fact i!U H eirs of ngc I was a little ii with brilliant risibilities In , ;, I v is a clergyman's son Ia .no"! " "'i' to In Jure of "i Southern Her, nt which Slourhr' ha" do"n estates of ,Ar and simenhnt distinguished !i Tu-I across the river wns ;M1lanl very convenient In the ijrof h nse ns to hone-thlevcs iminterfclters nut the true In--tun of 'he town wns )n poker irfneM It wns poker mad The w microbe Infected church members , and the eloquent liomllleH of tho nal wer no antitoxin Nobody tut) se ret about It There was (hbhou the hnllroom being the jlrMidvnu Every boy In town nnhorl vedovorj night who won Idt an' how much Partlis of rblWi were frequently organized is count scat to come do"n for a ten of roller It wns old-fashioned irttblulf no chips denier put up a sinllal ante and the deal bo nl niB sums chanced hnnds TM effect upon tho jntingstorn mty hniSlned I'viry man had his rnt-iitcordlnK rnt-iitcordlnK rs he plajed well or bnd-Tte bnd-Tte high ft Kcntlemnnly tjpe In rtful estimation wns a wealthy it tio in 1 1 half a doen miles out n He wagered thousands, nnd i regarded ai an Invincible Any 41 er vnuld nin his legs off for ,Mnsliln j himself well paid by lUitlnitlrn of tho notice. But the r I 'Admiral Prlchton' of tlsce was Mr Jnmes I)eV He nn athlete nn unoqunlKl bowler, i'.tlass boxer and a champion at jrmd elbow ' It was a dark seciet j us joungesters that he was a tiliard or amazing potentialities tould Juggle he could exercise, he Imace the pasteboards do his bid-I bid-I He waj au artist In the business, uncr T at Heed his urts on his fel-tounnncn fel-tounnncn He was periodically i returning nlways with plenty of let 1lh which he was aluajs ittentrour Ho was the beau Ideal irtry lad In town nil as the place Into which I doot knowing one i.ard from an-ff an-ff lUd n weillh of pocket money, itorfoar loll irs In slher and n ten-jrioldplct" ten-jrioldplct" a present, conditioned iptrlmllral shonlng, the bank ex-Ttn ex-Ttn belns my parents I took the .t Infection iolcntl, nrid my A qui kly passed Into the hands oangiera who knew the game bet-itan bet-itan I Th"re were others not so mho helped to ialsh the treas-oflhenew treas-oflhenew omer The catastrophe -JnateJ when I wns unable to meet fessr S11 sh0,v,lns nna had to con-known con-known ST- ,onf,Mlon became Pariah fJ S.Ii ttB" r'rtly made a one IhlJt .aVlnf 1u,a'l "ut It Is n ,, fut0 "eni1 a rel'o to Coventry and another to keep him th-re rom ?&3 bfc.w0l.In"' haa '- 1 eared Dj two jears nor was the Inn-keeper's Inn-keeper's son a bull We were will matched and It I, if no co quen ' Something more than reinstatement wni nmn.nJy. PUl'"C 0,,nlon tn hleh was amenable orpuned Ms mlsfor-J"""1, mlsfor-J"""1, brought me t t no I e of our Admirable Crlehton It w as a dlstlnc-n,l?ni2.JIViiU' dlstlnc-n,l?ni2.JIViiU' my ntldences to his advances He was a mm of about 26 i.sS i.0li0n ,0 r"r'1 PrestUllgitaiion rulJ 1,lm.'4 roor "'holiir a fact he f,J I ."',"' my amnion school branches had been thoroughlj nttendeil to He shone 1 me how client ly I had been swindled b some of the older gang with whom I had pHjed He was too advanced In sears to attenl school and somewhat shamefull) proposed an exchange of serke I shoul 1 coach nun In arithmetic and grammar and In leturn he woull liidurt me Into the njsterles of peicentages' In other words he would tench me to cheat at cards 1 Jumped at the ehanee of thus becoming a blackleg and could see a Jlsta of pleasant revenges before me ve spent the winter thiee hours a dtv together two hours on figures and moods and tenses and one nn prestldl-gltallon prestldl-gltallon I had nn apt Kholar and I think he found one too "The story of the resulting revenges In Immnterlil Among new associates away at school the higher ethlts of cards and gambling were developed and tho practice of cheating was carried no further Mj mentor also evcnlinlly took tn better courses hiving hi quired during my period of coaihlng the knack of self-help and he became a notable iltlzen and eventuallj the sheriff of tho counts His Inslrui lions have doubtless doubt-less been of account In the matter of protection Hut t have preltj generally avoided the attentions of Ihe slick gentry, gen-try, not possessing the irochet of my friend Clem It who used to Imagine himself a sort of card l'nladln whose tailing It was to look tip the Rentlemen of nimble fingers nnd bent their fraud-ulent fraud-ulent game with nn honest one 'Clem R was distinctly the best pokei plajer, on the dead level, 1 ever met but he often made phenomennl losings los-ings He would bet his nntngonlst to a standstill when convinced tint his own pretensions were superior and he would call tho limit when only mnicrately well fixed If he thought he read the opposing op-posing Indications aright 1 saw him once, with a single call Old Powell" for a tidal wave of Ivories Tow ell showed dovvn four sixes which he held pnt being be-ing In a hid temper, first In hand and no chnnce to finesse His play looked like a wrathful tour de force, he having hav-ing been In bad form for some time 'On one occasion I vvas un onlooker by request when Clem It met 'nilly" V . a card sharp of continental repute, and another whose name I do not recall I had never seen 'Dllly' V perform and watched with faculties on feuther edge In only one pliv did I sec anything crooked The original hands were honest hon-est ones, but the prestidigitator filled the confederate hand from the middle of the deck- so It seemed with a celerity celer-ity I could only compare to that of it toad snatching a passing (ly with his tongue Clem It's hind vvas filled regularly, reg-ularly, and tho plaj proceeded on the basis of two adjacent full houses My friend lost 120O n small sum for him with n full on Jacks On the street I asked him If he taw the trick, nnd he said he did " 'Whj, then, did sou play against the hand?' 'Well, call It poor play If sou like, but notice that ms reinforced Jacks were above the average and I did not I know the strength of tho other hand unfilled You will admit I made a prct- I ty close gue"s "Dally America. |
