ay.

Soon after starting some one told the Captain that the deck-hands
were talking about having me arrested when we got to St. Joseph,
so he put me ashore on the opposite side of the river, and when he
was through with his business at St. Joseph he came over after me
and took me to St. Louis. We landed alongside of the steamer
_Emigrant_ a short distance below St. Joseph. Captain Blunt went
over on board and told the officers all about our gallant charge.
My old friend, Henry Mange, who keeps a boat store in New Orleans,
was running the bar on the _Emigrant_ at the time, and he often
asks me about the war on the Missouri River.

"RATTLESNAKE JACK."

"Rattlesnake Jack" was about the last man I worked with as a partner
playing three-card monte. His right name was Jackson McGee. He
was born and raised in the mountains of Virginia, and spent much
of his early life catching snakes, which he would sell to showmen,
who gave him the name of "Rattlesnake Jack." He was over fifty
years of age, and weighed about 160 pounds, at the time he and I
worked together. He was a good talker, and had but few equals at
throwing the three cards. He looked like the greenest sort of a
backwoodsman when he had his "make-up" on. He was not the bravest
man in the world, but he was not afraid of snakes, and could make
some good big bluffs with his long six-shooter. He is now living
in West Virginia with his family, and no one would think, to see
him, that he used to catch rattlesnakes for a living, or played
three-card monte with old Devol. He has a beautiful daughter, who
is highly accomplished, and Jack is proud of her.

Old Jack and I were on board of the steamer _Natchez_ one Saturday
night, coming out of New Orleans, and she had a large number of
passengers on board. We did not see any good monte suckers, so I
opened up a game of rouge-et-noir and did a fair business until 11
o'clock; then I closed up and went to the bar, where I met a
gentleman I had often seen on the packets. He knew me and my
business, for he had seen me play monte several times. He invited
me to join him in a drink, and then laughingly said:

"Devol, how is the old business, anyway?"

I laughed back, saying: "Oh, it's just so-so; but let's take
another drink."

He accepted, and while we were drinking, old "Rattlesnake Jack"
walked up and said to the barkeeper:

"Mister, how much you ax fur a dram o' liquor?"

The barkeeper told him 15 cents.