Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/733

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took a long pull at the bottle and was equal to the emergency. He dealt the cards. There was some betting before the draw, and soon things began to get lively. Before the draw, Stone held a pair of kings; he drew to his kings, and colored to the very roots of his hair as he picked up the cards he had drawn, and found two additional kinci's and an ace—making;; his hand absolutely invincible. His agitation was plainly visible, his hand trembling pitifully as he saw Adams* bet of $20, and raised him $180 back. Good heavens! can ifc be possible that Budd Davis is going to play against that invincible hand? Yes, he slowly counts out the twenties until he has seen the $200 and goes $260 better. Adams steps out for the appearance of the thing, and an ominous silence reigns round the board. Stone has $420 in his pocket, but a suspicion that something is wrong begins to dawn upon his mind and the flush fades from his face. He sees no way of escape, however, and stands the raise. The hands are shown down and Budd defeats his four kings and an ace with four aces! Of course, in gambling parlance, he had lifted a cold hand on the young man, that is, one already prepared from another deck of cards and secreted somewhere about his person. He was arrested at the instance of Stone, and tried before a justice of the peace, but was discharged without punishment. After that, we presume, Stone devoted his attention to raising potatoes instead of raising bets and going it blind.

I do not know of any other time or place where could be found a servant of the living God going to an emissary of Satan for aid to build a temple to the former, for the express purpose of utterly confounding and placing under foot the latter. It was not a very praiseworthy act for the preacher to go to the gambler on such a mission, and of the two the man of sin shows to the better advantage. The omnipotent