d play an' don't pack the par'fernalia so to do, I'm
plenty astoote as to how said tricks is turned.

"'Which sports has speshulties same as other folks. Thar's Texas
Thompson, his speshulty is ridin' a hoss; while Peets's speshulty is
shootin' a derringer, Colonel Sterett's is pol'tics, Enright's is
jestice, Dave's is bein' married, Jack Moore's is upholdin' law an'
order, Boggs's is bein' sooperstitious, Missis Rucker's is composin'
bakin' powder biscuits, an' Huggins's is strong drink.'

"'Whatever is my speshulty, Cherokee?' asks Faro Nell, who's as
immersed as the rest in these settin's forth; 'what do you-all reckon
now is my speshulty?'

"'Bein' the loveliest of your sex,' says Cherokee, a heap emphatic, an'
on that p'int we-all strings our game with his.

"'That puts the ambrosia on me,' says Faro Nell, blushin' with
pleasure, an' she calls to Black Jack.

"'As I observes,' goes on Cherokee, 'every sport has his speshulty.
Thar's Casino Joe; his is that he can "tell the last four."
Nacherally, bein' thus gifted, a game of casino is like so much money
in the bank for Joe. Still, his gifts ain't crooked, they're genius;
Joe's simply born able to "tell the last four."

"'Which, you gents is familiar by repoote at least with the several
plans for redoocin' draw-poker to the prosaic level of shore-things.
Thar's the "bug" an' the "foot-move" an' the "sleeve holdout" an'
dozens of kindred schemes for playin' a cold hand. An' thar's
optimists, when the game is easy, who depends wholly on a handkerchief
in their laps to cover their nefariousness. If I'm driven to counsel a
gent concernin' poker it would be to never play with strangers; an'
partic'lar to never spec'late with a gent who sneezes a lot, or turns
his head an' talks of draughts of cold air invading' the place, or says
his foot's asleep an' gets up to stampede about the room after a hand
is dealt an' prior to the same bein' played. 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. Thar's gents who does their work from the bottom of a
deck---puts up a hand on the bottom, an' confers it on a pard or on
themse'fs as dovetails with their moods. He's a one-arm party--shy his
right arm, he is--who deals a hand from the bottom the best I ever
beholds.

"'