At last they came to a call; then they knew that they had got the worst of it, yet they never uttered a word or make a kick, and when we reached New Orleans they confessed that the boys had made suckers of them. Poor Bill is now dead, and Waddell, who is still living, would, if asked, laugh and say that he had long ago learned not to hunt up poker games on steamboats.
HOW I WAS BEAT.
Sam Houstin and Harry Monell were in business with me working the Missouri Pacific, and we were very successful, making a great deal of money. During the summer we played the bank, and in the winter operated on the river and Southern roads. Immediately after the big fire we resolved to go to Chicago, but, at the last minute, Houstin was unable to go; but I told him he should be in with the play, and share the profits as if he was along.
Monell and I started, and made a few hundred dollars, and when Houstin joined us he received his share of the spoils. We were all stopping at the Tremont House, on Lake Street. We made a little money, and one Sunday morning I arose early, and resolved to go out on the road about twenty miles. While waiting for breakfast I made the acquaintance of a gentleman from Texas, who had just sold some cattle that he had brought with him. We had a cocktail together, and I sent the porter to awaken my partners, whom I duly introduced to the stranger, letting them know that he had money, and to keep a sharp lookout on him until Monday morning. When I returned at night I found that my partners had beat the Texan, and he had Houstin locked up in jail. I carried him down a good supper from a restaurant, and then hunted up the Texan, who told me that he had started in betting, and at first won and then lost $7,600, and that his only object in arresting Houstin was to scare him so as to get his money back. The other man he could not find. He said he had gambled when in Texas, but these fellows were too smart for him, and that he could not afford to lose that money.
When the case was called for trial, the Judge dismissed it on the ground that they were all gamblers. Nothing was said about the settlement of the game for a couple of days, when one morning they both arose, paid their bills, and skipped, and I never received a cent of that money. I have since learned that Monell is doing time at Sing Sing, along with "Paper Collar Joe," while Houstin is an old man trying to lead a square life, I understand, down in Florida. The late Sherman Thurston once said to me, "George, those fellows are rotten apples;" but I did not heed his advice, and let them alone.
SETTLED OUR HASH.
Jew Mose and myself were once traveling on the Missouri Railroad, having headquarters at Cheyenne and making a good deal of money, when one evening I picked up a man on the sleeper and beat him out of $1,200. That game settled our hash, for he proved to be one of the directors of the road, and as soon as he reached Omaha he had a lot of handbills printed and hung up in the cars, not only prohibiting gambling, but that conductors permitting the game on their cars would be at once discharged. I was then running a game in Greer Brothers' Gold Room Saloon, and occasionally slipped out and started a game on some of the trains. There were a dozen cow- boys aboard one night, when Mose opened out and took in a couple of them. They began to drink heavily, and then resolved to make the gambler disgorge. I expected fun, so I told Mose to get off and jump on the engine at the first station. He was none too quick, for the boys went through the train and never found him; but they never said a word to me, as they supposed I was a sucker like themselves, for at the time I was very roughly dressed. These cow- boys, while very blustering when on the trains, were peaceable enough when they entered a gambling-house; for the gamblers would stand no foolishness with them, and were always prepared to draw at a second's warning.
I RAISED THE LIMIT.
I recollect playing in a game of poker at one time on the steamer Natchez. It was a five-handed game, and the party were all friends of each other. We were playing on the square, with a straight deck of cards and for a small limit. I could enjoy myself in such a game for a limited time, then the old desire to play my tricks would come over me, and I could not resist the temptation. I did not want to beat my friends only on the square, but I did want to have some fun; so I excused myself for a few moments and left the table. On my return I sat in again, and the game went on as before. We had been playing a short time, when one of the boys picked up his hand, got a glimpse of it, and then threw it down as quick as lightning, saying, "What's the limit?" All the others looked at their hands, but none of them seemed to remember what limit we had been playing. One thought it was $10, but was willing to raise it to $20 if the others would agree. I remarked that the limit had been but $5, but I never kicked if anybody wanted to raise her. So they all consented to raise it to $20. The one next to the age put up the limit, the next one saw that and went him twenty better, the next one did the same. I said, "Boys, you are bluffing, so I will just call." The age then raised her the limit, and it went around until most of the boys had put up all their money. Then it came to a draw. Some took one card, some stood pat, and I took three. Then the betting was resumed at a lively rate. Those that had put up all their money borrowed from friends; and, to tell the truth, I never did see four men have so much confidence in their hands. I kept calling, and finally it was a call all around, but no one wanted to be the first to show down. I threw down three tens, when they all said, "I've got you beat." I said, "Gentlemen, it's a call all around; why don't you show down?" They all came down about the same time; and you should have been there—for all the passengers on the boat were looking on. They saw each other's hands, and I be gol darned if every one of them didn't have fours, and they were all aces at that. All four of them spoke up in the same breath, "Who dealt the cards?" I replied, "I did." We sent for the first and second clerks to bring a quire of paper and figure out who won the money and how much each one was entitled to. After the problem was solved we resumed the play, but first the boys made me swear I did not have any more cold decks on my persons with sixteen aces in them. As I had raised the limit to $20, I took the oath, and we again settled down to a square game.