ne of
the chicken men saw the corner of the "right" card turned up; so
he jumped up, and wanted to bet me $500 that he could pick out the
"right" card. I told him I did not want to bet, but if he made it
$2,000 I would bet him, and if I lost I would quit. At the same
time I pulled out a large roll of small bills, with a hundred dollar
bill on the outside, and laid it on the table. The chicken men
held a council of war, and of course they all saw the corner of
the "right" card turned up. They went for their sacks of silver,
and planked down four of them, with $500 in each. I put up and
said: "Gentlemen, you must all agree on one card, and select one
man to turn it, as I must have the two chances." They picked out
their man; he turned the card with the corner turned up; but, of
course, it was not the "right" card. The boat was just landing to
take in sugar, so I said, "Gentlemen, I will have to bid you good-
by, as this is my sugar plantation." I called two of the porters
and told them to take my sacks ashore. They said, "All right,
Massa George." You should have seen the chicken men look at me
when I landed with my sacks; and all the niggers came to shake
hands and say, "Glad youse back, Massa George," (for I knew all
the niggers on the coast). After the boat pulled out, I opened
one of the sacks and gave each black one of the "chicken" half-
dollars. They guarded the money until another boat came down,
which they hailed, and I was soon on my way back to New Orleans to
catch some more suckers.

THE HUNGRY MAN.

I was on board the _John Simonds_ coming out of New Orleans one
night. I had a very lively game of "red and black," and did not
close up until two o'clock in the morning. We were sitting around
the stove in the bar, drinking, smoking, and telling stories, when
there was a man came in whom I had not seen since the boat left
New Orleans. When he came aboard he was pretty full of "bug-juice,"
and had been asleep. When he woke up, of course he was dry, and
had come into the bar to get a drink. I said to him, "You look
dry, and you are just in time to join us." After thanking me, he
took a drink, and then told me he had missed his supper. I told
him I would send the porter into the texas, and get him a lunch,
which I did. I then thought if I can get some more of that "go-
your-money" whisky into him, I can size him up. So after taking
another round, I said to him, "You should have been up wh