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SAY ANN AH DAILY HE R ALD.
VOUYUAtIU I.)
]Si>( 27* )
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JOB PRINTING
In every style, neatly and promptly done.
THE GAME OP CAIJDS.
A MISSISSIPPI STORY.
“The darkies are mine,’l said the
gamester, striking his fist upon the table,
“show ’em up, and let’s see yliat they
look like. 1 '
The young planter who had lost, sent
one of the boat servants below* for John
and Helen, The passenger availed the
appearaace of the servants in silence for
a long time ; but they came lot. The
servant had informed them of the change
of owners. They were attached to the
young planter and wife, and did not like
to leave them ; besides, they tojid child
ren of their own at home, and what was
to become of them ?
The winner began to wax impatient at
the delay, and exclaimed:
“ Come Dantou, hurry up the niggers,
they must move quicker than this when
I send for them, or they'll nefer know
what hurt them.”
The young planter's aristocratic face
flushed crimson at this brutal exclama
tion, but he made no reply. IHe was
aboat to send another servant for John
and Helen when his purpose was stayed
by the appearance of Mrs. Danton. Iler
husband had been gambling, and she had
been weeping ever since the boat left
Cincinnati; and we were now far down
the Mississippi. No wonder then that
she was pale and wan, and that her eyes
looked as though they had been nearly
wiped away; but she was made exquis
itely lovely nevertheless.
. Although many years have passed
since that evening, I can see the sorrow
stricken young wife now, as she glided
up to the table and looked her husband
♦lh the face, lie had lost all their money,
and in a fit of desperation had also
staked* and lost the two last slaves. Lay
ing her lithe hand on his arm, she said:”
“Is it true, Charles, that you have
lost Join and Helen ?”
Her husband made no reply ; he could
no* even look up.
The passengers were fast gathering
round, and the scene was growing pain
ful. My father (who had heen North to
fetch me from school and was taking the
longest way home), was holding me by
the hand, and I knew, by the tightning
of his grasp, that he was becoming much
excited.
As Danton did not seem inclined to
answer his wife’s question, the gamester
roughly said.
“Yes, ma’am, John and Helen are
mine; and I want to see ’em, quick.
. Hanton sprang to his feet, aud stoop
ing across the table, hissed in the teeth
of the gamester:
“Viliam! dou’t you presume to speak
to my wife again.”
The look with which the menace was
accompanied with perfectly blasting,and
made tne swarthy and pitted face ot the
gamester fairly turn white.
How inconsistent is man ! That ac -
complished and high-born husband
could deliberately jeopardize the proper
ty and corrode the happiness of his
SAVANNAH, GA., FRIDAY EVENING, FEB. 10, 1865.
wife, hour after hour, day after day; and
year after year, but he could not bear
that the man whom he had chosen for a
companion should even as much as
speak to her.
“Yes, Mary, John and Helen are
lost,” he said at last, as he let the game
ster pass from under his gaze, “they are
lost, and it can t be helped now; so
don’t lei us‘have a scene about it.”
“I shall not let them go,” said Mary,
firmly, and I shall have a scene about it.
I did not say a word about the money;
but now that you have played them
away—oh Charlie !” and she leaned her
head on her husband’s breast.
“All! here they come,” said the game
ster, as John and Helen approached.
John was a powerful and fine looking
mulatto; his face indicating unusual in
telligence and kind-heartedness. Helen
was much whiter than her husband, and
remarkably handsome.
The gamester’s evil eyes gleamed as
he surveyed her, and turning to a savage
looking man near him, he said •
“I’ll sell you John in the morning,Ham
mond, but Helen I shall keep—at least a
few days.”
“I’m agreeable,’ said the slave-trader,
for so lie was ; ‘but I’d like the gale as
soon as possible.”
A look of indignation ran round the
group at this brutual colloquy. My
father’s grasp grew tighter still; and en
couraged thereby, I whispered to him to
buy John and "Helen himself; but he
shook liis head, and motioned me to
keep silent.
“I tell you I shall not let them go,” re
peated Mis. Danton, addressing the
stranger. “They were brought up in-my,
mother’s family ; besides, they have chil
dren at home, from whom it would be
cruel to separate them.”
The gamester and slave-dealer ex
changed glances at Mrs. Danton’s rea
sons for not letting the slaves go, and
her husband said ;
“It can’t be helped now, Mary ; let us
go to our room.”
“Oh, Missus, don’t goandleab me wid
dat man,” shrieked Helen ; “I shall die,
or jump overboard. Oh, don’t leab your
own true Helen, who sabed your life
when you fell in de byoo.”
“I shall not leave you, Helen. Do not
be alarmed, I ”
“Bress de Lord for dat,” interrupted
Helen ; “I know we’re safe now, kasyou
allers does just what you say you will. ”
“I think it is about time this nonsense
was stopped, ” said the gamester, rising
from the table. “You acknowledge,
Danton, that these negroes are my pro
perty; consequently they are mine, and
1 have a right to do what I please with
them; no bill ol sale is necessary be
tween two gentlemen ; and now, you
niggers, come along with me, and don’t
make a fuss, or I'll have you flogged and
put in irons.”
The scene now became exceedingly ex
citing. John called Helen to his side,
and clenched his teeth and . fist, while
their young mistrsss stood close in front,
as if with her feeble arm she would pro
tect them from the clutches of the game
ster. I was wild with excitement, and
begged my father to buy the slaves or
shoot the gamester, I did not much care
which. A bloody fight seemed inevita
ble, when a young New Englander, who
had been very quiet during the whole
trip, elbowed his way to the table, and
asked tiie gamester at what sum he val
ued his slaves.
“Two thousand dollars,” said he; do
you want to buy ?”
I have only a thousand dollars, “ the
young man answered: “I will give you
that for them*”
l “No, sir, but I‘ll stake them against a
thousand dollars, and play you a game of.
poker for the pile.” .
; , “I don’t understand the game,” said
, the New Englander; “I have played a
fdw gdmes at all-tour3, but I never gam
bled for ft cent of money in my life.”
‘.'Well, I’ll play you a game of all-four s,
then, if you like, and stake the niggers
against your thousand dollars.”
To the surprise of every one present,
the young man accepted the challenge,
called lor anew pack of cards, staked
his thousand dollars, and the game com
menced—the gamester having the first
deal.
As the company drew more closely
around the table, it seemed as though a
watchmaker’s shop were in our midst, so
distinctly we heard the tick of the watch
es.
The first hand the New Englander
made three to the gamester's one, at
which* a buzz of pleasure ran round the
group.
The second hand the gamester made
three to his opponent’s nothing; the third
hand fhiey each made two, which _ made
the Ndw Englander two to go, while the
gamester had but one to make,and it was
then Ills turn to beg. This was a great
advantage, and everybody seemed to give
up the'thousand dollars as lost.
The: New Englander dealt out the
cards with a steady hand, however, and
turned Up the jack of hearts, which
placed, him even with his antagonist, but
when fie raised his cards, I saw that he
had not a single trump in his hand, and
his adversary to ‘stand’ or ‘beg;’ if the
former, the game was his to a certainty;
if the latter, there would be another
chance for the slaves. After drumming
on the.back of his cards for a short
time, he looked at the New Englander,
to see if he could determine by his man
ner what it was best to do, but young
- Tbrnktufelill met his gaze without flinch
ing, and they sat for a long time gazing
into each other’s eyes.
‘Run the cards,’ said the gamester, at
last.
I could have hugged him for his mis
take.
Bunker Hill again dealt, and the
queen of spades turned up. Every
heart stood still, as the cards were for
the last time-lifted. ‘They are mine!’
shouted the New Englander ; or rather,
they are yours, said he, in a milder tone,
to Mrs. Danton, as he threw down the
ace of spades.
The beautiful and impetuous Southron
threw her arms around the winnner’s
neck, and three deafening cheers (in
which even the slaveholders joined) were
given to the satisfaction of the audience.
Many years after I met the New 7 En
glander in Mississippi, and claimed his
acquaintance, on the score of having*
been one of. his enthusiastic partisans on
the night of his well-remembered tri
umph. He had prospered in business,
and become rich. He was making his
annual pilgrimage to the family hearth
stone —a stone which has more potent
charms for good than that at which
kneel Mahommedan devotees in the city
of that prophet.
He said he had not touched a card since
that memorable game; that the thou
sand dollars he then risked was the sum
of his savings for many a toilsome year ;
but that he staked it, and played the
game perfect conviction of suc
cess. . u
Danton had sought him out, and kept
the acquaintance ever since ; and Mrs.
Danton could now travel the world over
without fear, for he had forsworn
gambling from that never-to-be-forgot
ten night.
We learn from the London Reader that
the French Emperor has ordered his Life
of Julius Caesar to be translated into En
glish, and has undertaken to revise the
p oofs hknself. Aud Messrs, Cassell &
Cos announce themselves as the English
publishers, and state that the first volume
will be ready for issue the last of Febru
ary.
SAYINGS OF .TOSH BILLINGS*.
OLD VELVET TOES. ,
Old Velvet Toes,iz wuth,in Wall streets
half a million. If yu sbud ask gentler
Charity how T he made his munny, sh£ v
wud tell yu (with a low voice and a deep*
blush)- ‘honessly.’ In person he waz.elab
orately thin, and slightly konkaye.
ize intent upon the ground while w alk
ing; he mite hav lost sumthing. In former
years, he had filled tew* to the beady
brim the cup hiz heavenly Father
him, and with trembling hands, still keT*
in tew hiz skinny lips, and drunk long—
life! but deths waiTent waz sarved. ora
him and then hiz munny, and hiz vai-toes*,
wtue like fat FallstafFs bill ov fair, tec?*
mutch sack fur the bread. He waz a?—
wus benevolent, giving whole folios e%r
good advise tew the poor; and stufikT.
hiz prayers with the teinjQcab apjk.
spirituel w T ants ov fUil earth*
. commoners, and kiaimetl a ballense irv
that Angels book, w'hoze duty, and- jTvjr
it iz, tew give credit,’ tew the hand tha t
sows. Hiz charities ware not the obstru- -
siv ones, that bild churches, and had.
subskripshuns, with a bold lex hand ; but
ratlur those little delicasies, delitefb.il tiir
bits, such az well worn shillings, and
prattling 3 sent, peaces, sou venders «*:••
the harte. When Velvet Toes waa
young, a blue eyed bird, cum tew hir_
cage, and for a time sung sweetly, but:
thar wsz no musik in fhis soul, andtbo*.
song ceased. A bappee bride bekum-a
prudent wife, and' az years rooled* cay ft
munny saving matron, at last; they
hunted together, a fatal couple. liiz
fase waz ploughed, and kross ploughed r
with gold .dug. thrrows: a lafi never ffifc -
toiWa thu dbld creases, and if a snail *
waz seen There it waz but the pul.*
~' % * J a bazspny. that memory 7 half
brout bnk, tC w
iivili sepulcher. J ° bifcspl
- the two that heaven '
alyuns from a cheerless hearth,
energys, hating wealth, and awn
begets gain in vicwvof a parents avaris.
that made, what should have been sl
happee hum—a miseiable asylum.—
Strange infatuation! Oh! the "horrorg
ov such a life! a harte that never waz
warm, onla az it panted on the trale ov
a shilling; a benevolence, that kottld
grow cold, listning tew the agony ov
want; a soul full ov bonds, and mort
gages, without one throb, without one
gift for awa sicle brother, Velvet Toes
walked in the broad ile ov religgion -
religgion he hived, it waz so cheap.
bowed his flinty brow in prayer, and
the riot ov his imaginashun, almost sa**;
hiz God pineting tew an Elysium,,
whare beggars never enter, and
whare taxes aint levied. Wlicc
is thare, that will pensil tki*
mans agny ? W T ho will skare away -
vulture that feeds on his soul, as k&.-
looks back upon the sound ov revelry a*,
the feast that wakes up the stillness her
haz left at the reapers, that are at wirrk
at hiz golden harvests. Oh ! agny in
tense ! Oh hell entifF—unenvied while?
he lived, and forgotten when be died.—-
No friend smoothed the sod above bim
the rank weeds nod their heds together
on his grey grave, and the thoughts ovr
the livin, on la go thare a cold morei
together. Old Velvet Toes haz shaved hi*
laste note ;no more will the widders tear
glisten on hiz threshold; no mots?
will the orphan shuddir az he meets' him,,
and no more will the taxgatherer, like &
wet ghost, set down befour him. Com
awl yee! who onla luv life, for the?
gould that iz in it, cum look down rate*
the earth hole whare Velvet Toes lies,
coffined and still—dug tlu r cum tew j tll
in the eddys ov the soft mind, a single,.
“God bless him”!—and when the graver
diggers have heaped Him with dirt, who*
filial hiz epitaflL be !
Don’t kiss a furious woman. Nevsfiß
risk a smack in a storm.
f PRICE
(Five Cents*
