,000 in money. I
mixed, and he turned the marked card. He was very much excited;
and when the card turned over, it had the mark on its back, but
the baby had crawled off the other side. He drew a long breath
and walked back to his state-room, and that was the last we saw of
him. As he was walking away, some one called to him to join us in
some wine; but he could not hear so well as when the capper told
him in a whisper to put up, as it was only for a minute. We looked
at our watches (I had two), and it wanted just five minutes of the
hour. The planter that made the bet of two bottles spent over $200
for the wine that night, and before he left the boat he gave me
$1,000 for the "brilliant stone."

LUCKY AT POKER.

One night I went out on the steamer _Belle Lee_. She was running
from Memphis to New Orleans. Captain Hicks was the commander, and
a jolly fellow was he. He said to me: "Devol, I never saw a
gambler in the world that I was afraid to play with. I am just as
smart as any of them." I said, "Captain, you will get no game out
of me, as I do not want any of your money." After supper I noticed
the Captain had a man, and they went to his room in the texas. I
opened up and had a fine play at roulette, but it fell off at 12
o'clock, and I closed up. I was sitting in the hall when the
Captain and his man came down. The man said: "Captain, I am
winner; let's have a bottle of wine." They invited me to join
them. The Captain said: "George, I will turn this gentleman over
to you, as I can't beat him." "Well," I said, "Cap, if you can't
beat him, I can't; for you are a better poker player than I am."

Then I winked at the barkeeper, who had a few decks of my cards
that I had put in when I came on board. He knew what I wanted.
I said to the man, "I'll tell you what I will do: I will play one
game of seven-up for a bottle of wine;" as I thought that was the
best way to get him started. He agreed. I said, "Barkeeper, give
us a deck of cards, and we will see who is the lucky man." We
began, cut for deal, and I beat him. I dealt, and I knew every
card in his hand. He had no trumps, and I had the jack alone. He
begged; I gave him one and made four. He dealt, and I made three
on his deal, which put me out. He was as hot as a pepper pod, but
he called for the wine. After we drank it, he said: "I wonder if
you are that lucky at poker; if so, I will try you a little while."
I said, "All right; I t