Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1909 — JOE MEETS STRANGER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

JOE MEETS STRANGER

Encounters Venerable Critter With Pack on His Back. HAILS HIM WITH HEARTINESS They Converge of Thing* That Make Even a Good Man' Better—Struggle Over Game of Card* —End* In Victory For Pilgrim.

[Copyright, 1908, by T. C. McClure.] I WAS proceeding on my happy way between the enterprising town of Jump Off and Happy Day and I was a-saylng to myself how much better it was to be innocent than to have a mother-in-law when I encountered a venerable critter with a pack on his back and a staff In his hand. He had chin whiskers that waved In the breeze, anil on his face there rested a look of Innocence and goodness. I knew him at once for a feller pilgrim, and I hailed him with

heartiness. When he had hailed mein return he gave me bis wrinkled hand and said: “Stranger of the highway, I recognize in thee a kindred speerit, and I am rejoiced to meet thee. Thou art one who loves his feller man.” “Yes, most of the time,” I answered. “Thou hast pity for the sorrerlng and downtrodden.” “Heaps of it.” “Thou hast sympathy for an erring brother." “His case always brings tears to my eyes.” “Thou wouldst that all men were honest and upright and that the sins of the world were cast far, far away.” “That's me to a checker. If I had my way about it there would be no guile in the hearts of men and no spavins on the legs of horses. The days should be forty-eight hours long and every day full of glad sunshine and those good deeds that make a man’s conscience swell like dried apples in the stewing.” “ ’Tis well,” said the stranger. “I knew - that I could not be mistaken in that face of yours. Descend from the vehicle, feller pilgrim, and let us sit here on the grass and converse of the things that make even a good man better.”

I complied with his request, and for a quarter of an hour we praised the goodness and lamented the badness of men and wondered if the day would ever come when Wall street) would find its last sucker. By and by. after uttering a groan and wiping away the falling tears, the old man turned to me and asked:

“Pilgrim, dost It happen that thcr, hast a pack of what they call playing cards in thy pocket?" “You mean those cards with pictures and spots on them?” “Aye, truly.” A Pack of Cards. “Then it happens that I have a pack. I found them beside a straw stack, where, I fear, a quartet of men without fear of the future in their hearts had been playing a game called poker.” “ ’Tls well. In a dim way I have heard of the game. I have sometimes thought I would like to learn it in order that I might show the unwary the guile there is in it. I wouldst hold up an object lesson to them."

“ ’Tis a thought worthy of a weary pilgrim traveling from afar. No man of Innocent heart and pure motives can hope to rake in a pot with three Jacks in his hand when the |>ad man opposite has a full house. S’h til we spread a blanket between us and teach each other the game that we may be the better prepared to warn others of the danger of raising the pot on a four flush?”

“Yea; it might be well,” he replied la a humble way and with a faraway look in his eyes. For ten minutes we taught each other the value of the cards, and it was surprising how fast we both picked up Information. Then it was the venerable and guileless stranger who looked off over tho rolling prairies of Oklahoma, rich with the memories of pipe Hues and sich, and whimperingly suggested that a little stake would make the game more exciting. Without suspicion of him in my heart and solely with a desire to send a cash contribution to the heathens of Africa I consented, and we each deposited a dollar on the cloth. As we did so I thought I caught a gleam cf avarice In the old man’s eyes, while, as I had mine cast down, I am sure he saw nothing. The heathens of Africa had lost $lO through me when there came a feeling

to my breast mat venerable was not altogether a pure and Innocent hearted man, and I began to sit up and take notice. We had S3O on the blanket when I got a straight flush in my band. I reasoned it out that if venerable was the man I now -suspicloned him to be he would have a band of fours. The way he began to raise me warmed the cockles of my heart and sent my sympathies pouring out for the unfortunate. We were very humble as we played. Outside of our raises we talked mostly of orphans and heathens and of the joy of presenting them the wherewithal to buy winter underclothing and to Indulge In quail on toast. By and by, when the pot amounted to SIOO or more, venerable got scared and called my hand It was a proud moment for the heathen when I laid down that straight flush. It was a thing of beauty. It beat a red wagon just out of the paint shop. For a long minute the stranger gazed on It, and then be precipitated himself upon me and . made use of words not known to the language of Greece In Its foremost days. It was a struggle for the right—that is, for the privilege of forwarding that hundred bones to the spot where it would do the most good—and right conquered. It always does If It has got the most muscle behind It, though It may receive a black eye aiid a skinned nose in the conquering. / When I had hammered old venerable to my heart's content I rose from his recumbent carcass and gathered up the spoils of virtue and drove away. As I drove many sayings came into my mind and were uttered by my lips, such as:

“He who Is armed with Integrity can suffer no defeat.” And likewise: “The guilty man overcometh him self.” And once more: “He who bulldeth on deception will come to be tangled up among the ruins of his own house.”

Any one knowing the address of an African heathen who is hard up will do me a favor by forwarding it. Give postofflce box if possible. Meanwhile the hundred will remain in my hind pocket. Enter* Town of Jump Off. I entered the town of Jump Off with a bird singing in my heart and the glad thought in my soul that the world had grown 50 per cent better since the elections. But, alas. I was to be made the victim of man’s wiles again. The mayor of the town came forward and gave me the glad hand and extended the freedom of the city, which meant that I could drink in every saloon in the place if I had the cash to pay for it. I had pitched my tent and got ready to take tintypes at 10 cents a take when old venerable, who had revived and followed on, struck the burg. He did not seek me out, as one pilgrim should another, but went to the mayor and declared that I had assaulted and despoiled him on the highway. His honor called for my side of the story. Truth and integrity showed so plainly In my face that be could not doubt me. He offered to boot old venerable out of town If I would share my winnings with him. I could not consent. I had played poker from one of the noblest sentiments that can actuate the human heart, and I did not wish to degenerate it into mere dross. I was given ten minutes In which to make up my mind, and as I remained steadfast to principle, which means never let go of anything you’ve got into your pocket I was driven out of the town in ignominy and humiliation and made to pass the night on the prairie tn a sobbing rainstorm. I hugged that wad of greenbacks to my damp heart, however, and felt that though man’s Inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn, as the family almanac has It, SSO In cash goes a long ways in setting up mint julips In hot weather.

M. QUAD.

A PACK ON HIS BACK AND A STAFF IN HIS HAND.