BEFORE THE WAR.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXIX, Issue 12111, 4 July 1903, Page 2 (Supplement)

BEFORE THE WAR.

THE RIGHT OF THE N DUELLIST. ■Wmd-up of a Poker Game in the Lively Days of tie Mississippi Hiver Packets. (ITcw York Sun.) '." There is men travellin' the river today," said Caleb Mix, the veteran bar-ten-der on the Mississippi River packet City of-Natchez, " that I reckon mebbe mought ha' kep' their end up with any o' the high rollers that uster whoop things up on the boats a good many year ago, befo' the war,, but I don't see none >on 'em doin' it. 'Pears like they don't have the same ambition nowadays, 't they uster, but I reckon, more'n likely it's because things is different on the boats.

'■Mebbe there's just as many high jinks now as there was then, on'y they happen somewhere else. Them days the boats was the place where everybody was lopkin' fr excitement o' one kind or other, ah' there didn't nobody need to look twice. It were always on tap, 'n' the on'y thing 't wasneeded .was to step aboard an' keep y'r eye peeled. Somepin' 'd happen all right. "One thing, I Teckon, 't made.it lively them times, was 't the on'y thing '_'£ the young men had to do was to study up some new deviltry, an' when they come to be older they was so used to it they couldn't change easy. Everybody had plenty o' money, an' there was niggers to do all the work, so the on'y thing f'r a white man to do was to enjoy hisself. An' you can come pretty tol'able near sayin' they done it. " There' wa'n't nothin' that come along 't had any excitement in it but what the young bloods, them times, was into it, head over Jieels, whether 'twas drinkin' or ganiblin' dr fightin'. They'd fight at the drop o' the hat, any one on 'em, an' -they thought nothin' o' playin' away a year's.crops in one settin' at a game o' poker, an' when it corn's to puttin' away budge, there wa'n't no limit on the game. "You couldn't say they'd get real drunk like a man will on whisky nowadays, for whisky wa'n't drinked so much then as 'tis now. It was .wines an' brandy then, for the mos' part, with sometimes a little Jamaica rum. Rum. was more of a drink up No'th, though, than it were on the river, so they tell me, but there Wa'n't so many« mixed drinks as they is now, on'y juleps an' san-n-arees, an' a man don't get the. same kind of a diunk on straight liquor 't he does on cocktails an' such. "But wines and; brandy will go to a man's head','if he drinks 'em steady, even if he don't get drunk. As I was sayin", they didn't'seem to so much, them times, an' when a- party o' young fellers 'd get aboard the boat somewheres thfe river, all on'the way to New Orleans for a visit, things vras'tol'able likely to be doin' afore we'd get- there, ; Especially, if 'twas; more'in a , twenty-four-hour-trip fm where they'd get on. "There was five on 'em come on at Helena- one night when I was keepin' the bar on, the old Creole Belle that was .burned just outside .the Vicksburg landin' afterwards, an' when I seen 'em comin' I says to myself that the rest of the trip was, goin' to be busy times for me an' myjnigger, Joe. A mam couldn't run a bar on one o' these river boats then without bavin'' a helper, an' I alius had my own nigger fin choice.

"Them five was all husky young bloods. They was big men, such as you find a good many of in Arkansas, hone of 'em bein'less 'n six foot nor more 'n twenty-five year old. An' every one on 'em had' his own body servant with him, for nobody that was anybody • ever travelled them days 'without a. servant. •

, ",They was chums. You c'd see that by the way ,fhey was all talkin' together, an' they was larkin'.like schoolboys when they come on the boat, so I knowed they'd been drinkin' quite some since supper, for Southern gentlemen was tol'able dignified them times when there was strangers 'round, an' there wa'n't no manner o' doubt that these fellers was gentlemen. .

"WeiT, they hadn't fairly got off the gang-plank ■ afore ; they showed, plain enough, what quality they was. There was a Tennessee man named Gaynor that I knowed for a tol'able hard character, him bein' a fightin' man an' a high roller hisself, but some down in the world, havin' gambled his fortune, an' bein' in the way o' gettin' talked about, even then. He were a professional gambler after, but this happened afore he lost caste altogether.

" He stood in the gangway givin' his nigger orders about something or other when these five come along, an' one on 'em havih' his head turned, talkin' to his friends, brushed up ag'in Gaynor kind o' careless. "He turned like a flash l when he seen what 'he'd did, an' taking off his hat, says polite as possible: .--"' I beg yo' pardon; sir. I really "

"But Gaynor was a peppery cuss, an' didn't even wait, for him -to finish what he was sayin'. He bust out cussin' an' says: "'What the dEvil yo' mean, waikin' on me like that?' " The young Arkansas feller drawed hisself up as stiff as a. ramroß, an', put his hat on again, an' waited.till Gaynor got through cussin'. '• Then he said,; as polite as before:

."'I reckon I made a mistake. ; 'Pears like I was wastin' my apology, givin'it to you. 0' course, if you'd rather have satisr faction, I'm ready.to give it to you, any way you like to take it. Here is any card, sir.'.' .. •.' i ;-.' ' I.

"0' course, that meant a duel. Men fought in the old-fashioned way, then, pretty nigh as often as they did rough an', tumble, an' when Gaynor handed over his card everybody knowed be a meetin' between 'em a&sopn as it could be arranged. Then they bowed as polite as two wax figures, and the five ffiends walked' off as stiff as soldiers on, parade. "You wouldn't ha,' thought, to ha' seen 'em that night that any: one on 'em had anything on his mind for the mornin' more serious than his breakfast. _ They was a skylarkin' again, as soon as they'd walked away from Gaynor, an' was all over the boat for an hour or so 1 afore they settled down to anything, not fofgettin' to call on me two or three times for a bottle or so o' the best. .

"Then they got into the salo6n where there was.three or.four games o' poker go-, ing on, an' for a few minutes they went from one table to another lookin.' on. 1 kind o' thought they'd l start a game o' their own, bein' as there was five on 'em, but they didn't, for some reason or other. " After a little A two on 'em set in at one table an' one at another., an' the other two kep' walkin' 'round lookin' on. You .use pretty much all the games oil. the boats was wide open, then, an' anybody that wanted to play was welcome if was room for him an' he had money.

"Well, the feller that had the duel on hand—they called him. Harry, an' I f»und out afterward his name was Harry Wells—he soc in alone with five men that I knowed for some o' the hardest gamblers on the river. Two on 'em was professionals that always played together, an' the other three was travellm' men that had business up an' down the river continual, but was al'ays playin' cards when they was on the boats] They played a stiff game, but they was

straight enough, an' each one on 'em thought he was fly enough to stack 'up against any professionals there was. " They was playin' for big money. You didn't hear much about table stakes them days, an' there wa'n't no talk of a limit when players like them got together. Mostly it was a case o' lyin' down 'thouten a man was strong enough to call, or had su=l» an almighty good hand that he was willin' to risk his pile on it, an' then the other ieller' most gen'ly lay down. " 0' course, that kind of a game makes anybody play careful, 'thouten he's plumb crazy, but it gives a rattlin' good chance, once in a while, for a man to bluff, too, if he's "got the nerve to do it. Showdowns I ain't frequent in sioh games, for., when a man gets to the end of his wad he's out o' the game, 'thouten he wins out. "Well, this here Harry, as they -called him, wa'n't no slouch of a player his ownself, and I reckon he'd sized up the game afore he set in. Anyhow, he wouldn't ha' stood no show with the men he was playin' against if he Hadn't been a good one. " The luck was with him, too, an' after he'd bought a hundred in chips to set in with, he didn't have no call to flash huy more money for. some time. The cards run his way f'm the start an' he gathered in' four or five good bets inside- of twenty minutes, so's't he got a big start. " Just naturally the two gamblers was sore. The other men didn't like it none too well, for nobody likes to I lose at poker, but they was sports an' counted on losin' sometimes, but Harris an' Carter, the two professionals, was out for. the stuff all the time, an' they just couldn't stand it to .see a new man set in an' take away money they was countin' on gettin' their ownselves. ■ '

"I knowed 'em, both for tough characters, an' I made up my mind there was goin' to be trouble. I'd left my boy Joe in the barroom and was in the saloon myself, partly to look on, and partly because 1 knowed some o' the players for good customers, an' I'd ruther wait on 'em myself than to let the nigßei. do it. An' when I seen Wells was winnin' an' Carter an' Harris was lookin' ugly I kep' a close watch on that particular table. " 'Twan't long comin'. Men was quick to do things them days, 'when they made up their minds to do 'em. It came Wells's deal on a jack-pot, an' Carter. opened it after two o' the'travellin' men had passed. The other one sat next, an' be come in. " Then Harris come in, o' course. It didn't make no difference what 'he held, he was certain to come in so 'as to help Carter in the bettin', if 'twas necessary. "That brought it up to Wells, an' him havin' a four flush as it turned ouyan' gettin' a chance o' four to one in the bettin , took his chance. It cost him lOdol, but there was forty in the pot already, an it were good play. "There hadn't been no raise, po they called for the draw. Carter took two cards. The travellin' man an' Harris each took three, an'- Wells helped hisself to one. "Carter bet a white chip, an' the travellin' man chipped along. Then Harris raised it, an' I reckoned he done it just so's to give Carter another chance, but it turned out that he really had three tens, so 'twa'n't so barefaced as I thought. Even at that it was tol'able bold play in front of a one-card draw, tout you couldn't say

nothin' against it. . | " Wells looked at his draw an' then seen Harris's .raise an'' bet him twenty more. That.'set Carter studyin' an' him, thinkin' that Harris would raise back, so's to give him another chance, just made good without raisin'. Them two knowed each ; other's play, of course., ■ _ " The travellin' man dropped, havin'two small pair aa ; no show against a double raise,, an' Harris ; come back i with fifty harder. ',.• :■■' .; :!.■: - . :

"Wells grinned, ami' made it a hundred, more, so" Carter seen it were ho good to bluff, 'thouten he was ready to play Wells to a finish, an' havin' only a pair of aces lie dropped, leavin' it up to Harris to play it through. \ O' course it cost Harris a hundred to call, Wirt there was. a chance that Wells were Muffin', an' there was nigh 350d0l in the pot, so he called, an' Wells showed down his flush. 0' course the opener had to show his aces, an ? Harris had to show his cards, havin' called, so we all seen just what the play had been. " There wa'n't nothin' wonderful about it, nor no occasion to say nothin', but Carter an' Harris was both furious. Likely they wouldn't ha' said nothin' on'y for Wells havin' won iso much before, but Carter made a break right then. "Wells was just rakin' to the pot when he spoke. i '"'Pearslike it was mighty lucky foryou that you was dealin' just then,' he says with a nasty sneer that there -wa'n't: no chance 6' misunderstandin'.' ' ' " Anyhow, Wells didn't misunderstand it;;' He.knowed, like we all did, that Carter was chargnV him with cheatin' an' quick as a flash'he reached across the table with the hand that was takin' in the pot, an' slapped Carter across the cheek. Then he drawed back quick an' rose to his feet, pullin' his gun out at the same time Carter drawed hisn. That kind of a word meant a blow, and a blow meant fight, them days. "In another second there'd ha' been lead flyin' if it hadn't been for Gaynor. Nobody had noticed him afore, but he'd been standin' back for a while, lookin' on an' sayin' nothin' an' when Carter pulled his gun he jumped in behind him an' catched him by both wrists, twistin' his arms right round "toward his back.

"' I ain't got mo objections to your fightin' this man, Mr Wells,' he says as cool as a cucumber, 'after you settle-your quarrel with me, but I've got the first call. On'y I want to tell you he's nothin' but a common gambles an' I dWt reckon* no gentleman wants to meet him on the field of honour, an' this ain't no place, for promiscuous gun play. An' if you don't think I'm right about him bein' a blackleg, just look at his pal there tryin' to steal the pot.' ' " " Well,, just naturally we all did look, anf sure enough Harris was reaohin' for the money in the middle of the table. He thought he'd get away with it, or some of it, in the confusion. ■ " But when he heard what Gaynor said he pulled back an' started to draw his own gun. Likely he'd ha' shot Gaynor, but Wells's two friends that was lookin' offl, they grabbed him, an' there wa'n'b no chance for a fight after that. "The gamblers started to put up a game o'' talk, but the cap'n com« into the, saloon, just then, an' knowin' the two on 'em, he wouldn't stand for it. He put 'em! both under arrest, an' landed 'em the next stoppin-' place with a warning' never to show theirselves on the Creole Belle again. "An' Gaynor an' the five friends all got off the boat next mornin' for their duel. The cap'n wouldn't let 'em fight on the boat. 0' course, we didn't know' then what ( happened, to* the boat went on afore they'd had it out, hut the,next trip up the river I heard that Gaynor put a bullet in Wells's arm, not hurtin' him no ways serious, an' feelin' that his honour was satisfied, didn't call for no more shots. It might ha' been pretty serious, but it turned out all right as it happened."