United States or Kiribati ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
It shows how the instinct to do things, that a bent is allers carryin' 'round in his mind, gets sort o' located in his nerves mebby, an' he'll do 'em without his intellects ridin' herd on the play do 'em like Curly Ben does, after his light is out complete. "This yere is what I'm trailin' up to: When Captain Moon fetches Curly Ben that time, Curly is playin' kyards.
I would refoose battle with 'em myse'f. "It ain't long before Captain Moon an' Curly Ben is seen confidin' an' conferrin' with one another, an' drinkin' by themse'fs, an' no one has to be told that Moon's makin' negotiations with Curly to ride over an' down the agent. The idee is pecooliarly grateful to Wolfville. It stands to win no matter how the kyards lay in the box.
"'Which he could give Chesterfield, Coyote could, kyards an' spades, observes the Colonel. I don't, myse'f, know this Chesterfield none, but I can see by the fashion in which Colonel Sterett alloodes to him that he's a Kaintuckian an' a jo-darter on manners an' etiquette. "As I says, a pecooliar trait of Coyote is that he won't drink nothin' but water.
Not that I overlooks a bet, or don't recall 'em none; but I ain't upholstered with them elegancies of diction needed to do 'em justice now. My language is roode an' corrupted with years of sech surroundin's as cattle an' kyards. It's too deeply freighted with the slang of the plains an' the faro-banks to lay forth a tale of love an' tenderness, as the o'casion demands.
For half an hour he wins an' he loses about equal; an' he's shore tryin' hard to win, too. "'If I takes in a couple of hundred or so, says this Rainbow to me, 'I allows I'll visit my folks in the States once for luck. "But he never visits them folks he adverts to. It's on Boggs's deal, an' he's throwin' the kyards 'round when Rainbow's took bad.
It either out-lucks you or out-plays you whenever it's so inclined; an' it seems allers so inclined, Destiny does, jest as you're flatterin' yourse'f you've got a shore thing. A gent's bound to play fa'r with Destiny; he can put a bet down on that. You can't hold six kyards; you can't deal double; you can't play no cold hands; you can't bluff Destiny.
His consumption sorter mutinies onto him all at once. He's got the seat on the left of Boggs, too, got the age. "'Play my hand, he says to Hamilton, who's stepped in from the dance-hall; 'play my hand, Jim, till I feels a little better. I'll be all right in a moment. Barkeep, deal me some whiskey. "So Rainbow walks over to the bar, an' Hamilton picks up his kyards.
"'Enright, he says, 'I shore has a preemonition this yere Burke gets plugged by Pinon Bill. "'How does the kyards run so as to deal s'picions on Pinon Bill? says Enright. "'This a-way, says Texas, some confident an' cl'ar; 'somebody downs Burke; that's dead certain. Burke don't put that hole in the middle of his back himse'f; no matter how much he reckons it improves him.
Den he 'vise' Mars Dugal' fer ter trim de vimes close't, en Mars Dugal' tuck 'n done eve'ything de Yankee tole him ter do. Dyoin' all er dis time, mind yer, 'e wuz libbin' off'n de fat er de lan', at de big house, en playin' kyards wid Mars Dugal' eve'y night; en dey say Mars Dugal' los' mo'n a thousan' dollars dyoin' er de week dat Yankee wuz a runnin' de grapevimes.
It's four to one this afflicted sharp is workin' a holdout. Then that's the "punch" to mark a deck, an' the "lookin' glass" to catch the kyards as they're dealt. Then thar's sech manoovers as stockin' a deck, an' shiftin' a cut, an' dealin' double.
Word Of The Day