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Title: How Slippery Played The Game
Author: Yukon Bill [
More Titles by Bill]
NO, TH' STORY AIN'T NEVER BIN TOLD AFORE, AS I'M TH' ON'Y MAN SEED TH' GAME PLAYED ON TH' DANCE-HALL FLOOR. I WAS THER' WHEN THE FUN BEGAN. AN' WHAT I SEE I TELL YOU STRAIGHT--TELL IT AS MAN TO MAN.
HOW SLIPPERY PLAYED THE GAME
"Lost ag'in!" yelled Slippery Jim,
"Never a mo'sel o' luck in m' life!
Yankee, you're on th' velvet agin!"
Says Yankee: "Jim, let's play f'r a wife!
There's Bonanza Pearl, she's sweet on you;--
Fairer 'card' no gambler ever drew!"
Slippery Jim staked high that night,
The game was poker,--rake-in keeps----
Yankee Pete hilarious, ready t' fight----
Rakin' th' gold-dust up in heaps.
Jim's last poke throw'd on th' table, so;
"It's my last ounce, boys! Well, let 'er go!"
He had staked the dance-hall--staked the bar--
Then, reckless, staked the "Wonder" mine,
Known on Bonanza near an' far
As the lucky strike of Eighty-nine.
Jim had played it all--an' lost! The sweat
Come when he gasps: "It's my last--bet!"
"You've got Pearl left," grins Yankee Pete,
"Don't funk now, Jim: make her th' stake."
With a howl of hate Jim was on his feet----
But a voice rings out: "THAT BET WE'LL TAKE!"
And Bonanza Pearl steps up t' me,
"You'll see this game played square!" says she.
Says Yank. "I stake my all 'gainst th' Girl."
(Then I see th' flame le'p in his eyes)
"An' if I win you, Bonanza Pearl,
Your soul an' body no man denies
B'longs t' me!" He stacked his gold,
As a groan from Jim his agony told.
Now, Jim was a MAN. He funked no game;--
Says he: "I'll stake blood, bone an' life,
But I'll put no woman to th' shame
Of bein' played 'a chip' in tin-horn strife!"
But Bonanza, she steps up t' him
An' she says: "Y' COULDN'T LOSE ME, JIM!"
"Come," says Bonanza, "Turn up th' pack";
She skinned the bunch with a laughin' eye;
I gets close up ahind Jim's back
Ready t' let th' bullets fly.
Th' two men playin' a round 'r so,
An' the luck agin' Slippery seem'd t' go.
"Straight flush o' di'monds--Ace at th' head;"
In a whirlwind play Yank takes the pot.
Slippery's eyes was now blood-red----
His lips crack'd dry--his breath comin' hot;
The last deal ended the game, I saw
'Twas Yankee Pete's first play--an' draw.
Jim's hand? cripes! 'Twas a reg'lar prize;
Luck had turned--he had aces t' burn!
But he sot there starin' with bloodshot eyes,
An' what I saw then gev' ME quite a turn----
F'r th' divil's own luck was at his heel,
He'd an EXTRA CARD--'twas a clear MISDEAL!
I let my hand t' th' trigger go----
Jim's throat gev' a sickish kind o' laugh;
An' he says: "I'm dry as h--ll, so,
W'ot d'ye say to a shandy-gaff?
An'," says Jim, "I'll hev' a bite t' eat;
Pearl, fetch me a sangwich o' bread an' meat"!
I felt like shootin' that gol-durn Jim,
Losin' th' game with a stake like that;
Wanted t' up an' lambaste him
Chawin' of meat like a hungry cat:
When, all at onct, sort o' swallerin' hard,
I PERCEIVES JIM EATIN' THAT EXTRA CARD!
"Locoed!" yelled Yankee, quittin' th' game,
Handin' over th' stakes. But Slippery Jim
Hunchin' up of his powerful frame
Giv' a kind of a grin o' hate at him.
"D----n y'r gold!" he says, "Slippery Jim to-night
Will begin t' live like a man born white!"
Now, perhaps you'd say the game warn't square----
An' some might call it a bunko trick;
But if you loved a ga'l an' she stood there,
Wouldn't y' swap souls with old Nick
Rather'n let her go t' Yankee Pete
An' play her game on Bonanza street?
NO, TH' STORY AIN'T NEVER BIN TOLD AFORE. I SAW IT FINISHED--SAW IT
BEGAN. SAW IT PLAY'D OUT ON TH' DANCE-HALL FLOOR. IT'S BETWIXT US, MAN
T' MAN!
[The end]
Yukon Bill's poem: How Slippery Played The Game
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