University of Virginia Library

4. CHAPTER IV.

“All the time he was talking, he was counting out the money,
which was almost all in gold. I was a little dub'ous that it
wasn't good money; but I smelt it, and it had no smell of brass,
and I was a leetle ashamed to let on that I didn't know good
money from bad; besides, there was a something about the old
gentleman so much like a gentleman, so easy, and so commanding,
that I couldn't find the heart to doubt or to dispute any thing
he said. And then, every thing about him looked like a gentleman:
his clothes, his hat, the watch he wore, the very dead
horse and her coverings, saddle, bridle, and so forth, all convinced
me that there was nothing of make-believe.

“ `There,' said he, `my good fellow,' putting the money in my
hand, `I reckon you never handled so much gold in your life before.'

“ `No,' said I, `to tell you the truth, though I've hearn a good
deal of gold, and know it when I see it by what I've hearn, I
never set eyes on a single piece till now.'

“ `May it do your eyes good now, then,' said he; `you look
like a good fellow. Your horse is sound?'

“ `Yes,' said I, `I can answer better for him than I can for
your gold.'

“ `That's good.'

“ `Well!' said I, `I'm not sure that I've dealt fairly with you,
stranger. I've asked you a little more than I've been asking other
people. My price on Rainbow has been only one hundred and
fifty dollars, before.'

“ `And your conscience troubles you. You are an honest fellow,'
said he, `but never mind, my lad, I'll show you a way to
relieve it.'

“With these words he pulled out a buckskin roll from his
pocket, and out of this he tumbled a pack of cards; the very
cards which you see nailed above my fireplace.

“ `We'll play for that twenty dollars,' said he, throwing down
two gold pieces on the body of the dead mare, and beginning to
shuffle the cards immediately. Somehow, I did as he did. I put
down two ten dollar pieces along with his. I couldn't help myself.
He seemed to command me. I felt scared—I felt that I
was doing wrong; but he seemed to take every thing so much
as a matter of course, that I hadn't the courage to say `no' to
any thing he did or said.

“ `What do you play?' said he, and he named some twenty
games of cards, some in French, I believe, and some in Spanish,
but no one of which did I know any thing about. He seemed
beflustered.

“ `Do you play any thing at all?' he asked.

“ `Yes—a little of old sledge—that's all.'

“ `Oh! that will do. A common game enough. I wonder I
should have omitted it. Here! you may shuffle them, and we'll
cut for deal.'

“I didn't shuffle, but cut at once. He cut after me, and the
deal fell to him. He took up and then put the cards down again
—put his hand into his pocket, and drew out a little silver box,
about the size of a small snuff-box,—that had in it a good many
little pills of a dark gray gummy look. One of these he swallowed,
then began to deal, his eye growing brighter every moment,
and looking into mine till I felt quite dazzled and strange.
Our table was the belly of the dead horse. He sat on one of the
thighs. I knelt down upon the grass on the opposite side, and
though it pained me, I couldn't take my eyes from him to save
my life. He asked me a great many questions while he was
throwing out the cards—how old I was—what was my name—
what family I had—how far I lived—where I came from—every
thing, indeed, about me, and my way of life, and what I had and
what I knew:—and all this in no time—as fast as I tell it to you.
Then he said, `You are an honest fellow, take up your cards,
and let us see if you are as lucky as you are honest.' It seemed
as if I was, for I beat him. I played a pretty stiff game of old
sledge, or as he called it, `all fours,' for I used to play, as long
as I could remember, with the old man, my father, every night.
Old people like these plays, and it's good for them to play. It

keeps 'em lively, keeps them from sleeping too much, and from
drinking. It's good for them, so long as it makes their own fireside
sweet to them. Well! I was lucky. I won the game, and
it worried me mightily when I did so. I didn't touch the money.

“ `I suppose,' said the stranger, `that I must cover those
pieces,' and before I could guess what he was about, he flung
down four other gold pieces, making forty dollars, in the pile
with mine, and began again shuffling the cards. If I was scared
and unhappy before, I was twice as much so now. I could
scarcely breathe, and why, I can't say exactly. It wasn't from
any anxiety about the winning or the losing, for I preferred not
to have the stranger's money: but it was his very indifference
and unconcern that worried and distressed me. It seemed so
unnatural, that I half the time thought that I was dealing with
nothing human: and though I could shuffle, and cut, and play,
yet it seemed to me as if I did it without altogether knowing
why, or how. As luck would have it, I won the second time;
and the third time he pulled out his purse and put down as many
more pieces as lay there. I looked at the growing heap with a
heart that seemed ready to burst. There was eighty dollars before
me, and I felt my face grow red when I caught his eye looking
steadily at mine. I began to feel sort o' desperate, and flung
about the cards like a person in liquor. The old man laughed,
a low chuckle like, that made my blood crawl in my veins, half
frozen, as it were. But, neither his skill and coolness, nor my
fright, altered the luck at all. I again won, and trembled all over,
to see the pile, and to see him take out his purse, and empty every
thing upon it.

“ `Stranger,' said I, `don't think of it; keep your money, and
let me go home.'

“ `Pshaw! said he, `you're a good fellow, and as lucky as you
are good. Why shouldn't you be my heir? I prefer that a good
fellow should win my money if any body. It'll do your sight
good.'

“ `But not my heart, I'm afraid,' was my answer.

“ `That's precisely as you use it,' said he; `money's a good
creature, like every other good creature that God gives us. It's
a good thing to be rich, for a rich man's always able to do good,

when a poor man can only wish to do it. Get money, my lad,
and be wise with it; wiser, I trust, than I have been.'

“With these words, he took out his silver box, swallowed another
of the pills, and was busy dealing out the cards in another
moment. I, somehow, was better pleased with him for what he
said. The mention of God convinced me that he wasn't the
devil, and what he said seemed very sensible. But I didn't feel
any more right and happy than before. I only wanted the
strength to refuse him. I couldn't refuse him. I took up the
cards as he threw them, and it did seem to me that I scarcely
saw to make out the spots when I played them. I hardly knew
how the game was played; I didn't count; I couldn't tell what
I made. I only heard him say at the close of the second hand,

“ `The money's yours. You are a lucky fellow.'

“With these words he pushed the gold heap to me, and threw
me the empty purse.

“ `There's something to put it in.'

“ `No!' said I; `no, stranger—I can't take this money.'

“ `Why, pray?'

“ `It's not right. It don't seem to me to be got honestly. I
haven't worked for it.'

“ `Worked, indeed! If nobody used money but those who
worked for it, many a precious fellow would gnaw his finger ends
for a dinner. Put up your money!'

“I pushed it to him, all but the two eagles which I begun
with; but he pushed it back. I got up without touching it.
`Stay,' said he, `you are a good fellow! Sit down again; sit
down.' I sat down. `I can't take that money,' said he, `for it
is yours. According to my way of thinking, it is yours—it is
none of mine. There is only one way in which it may become
mine; only one way in which I could take it or make use of it,
and that is by winning it back. That may be done. I will put
the horse against the gold.'