e outfit, and opened up over Allman's
place. I advertised my business in all the papers, just as a dry
goods merchant would advertise his business. My keno netted me
from $150 to $200 per day, and I set a lunch each night at a cost
of $25. Most men would have been content, but I was not, as I
still longed for the life I had led for so many years on the river.
So I sold out, and was soon in St. Louis ready for a down river
packet. On my way down I won considerable money, and that, together
with the fact that I was on my way back to the place I loved so
well, made me happy.

One night I went on board a boat that was so crowded with passengers
that I could not get a room; so I opened up monte, and as I was
winning money, I did not realize that I was sleepy until they began
to make up cots in the cabin, and most all the passengers had gone
to bed. Then I would have given almost any price for a place to
sleep, but all the cots were engaged, and I was left. Nothing
remained for me but to patronize the bar, which I was doing, when
a man came in to get a drink that had been asleep on one of the
cots. I told him as he had been resting if he would let me have
his cot for the balance of the night I would give him $5. He
accepted my proposition, and I went to bed. I had been lying down
but a few moments, when there was a fuss started near me. I raised
up to see what was the cause, when I saw two Jews that had come
aboard at Baton Rouge, and they were fighting for the possession
of a cot. I got up and told them to stop their fighting and join
me in a drink. They accepted the invitation. While we were drinking
I learned that they had been playing cards at Baton Rouge before
they had got on the boat, and had had a falling out over the game.
I told them I saw a fellow playing a game that beat anything I ever
had seen. They wanted to know what it was, so I showed them the
three cards, and in a short time I had won $200 from them. I forgot
all about being sleepy while I was working up the Jew boys, and by
the time I had won their money the steward was clearing the cabin
to set the tables for breakfast. I had lost the sleep for which
I had paid $5, but I did not mind it much, as I had won $200.

A DUCK HUNT.

During the winter season, wild ducks are so plentiful around New
Orleans that a good wing shot can bag a hundred of them in a few
hours. I have often seen men coming in on the boats and trains
with hundreds of