The year I was in St. Paul they paid off a lot of Indians a short
distance from the town. I was told that the Red Man was a good
poker player, and was always looking for the best of it. They paid
them in silver; so I got some of the hard money, hired a horse and
buggy, got some whisky, and started out to give them a game, more
for the fun and novelty of the thing than to win their money; for
I had the old keno game running, and she was a good producer. When
I got among the savages, they were having a war dance. After the
dance they smoked the pipe of peace and drank my whisky, and I
smoked their pipes. After the friendly smoking was over, they
started in to playing poker. They invited and insisted on me changing
in, so at last I sat down and took a hand. One of the old bucks
soon began to cheat. He had an old hat in front of him, and inside
of the hat he had a looking-glass, so that he could see on his deal
every card he dealt out. I knew he was after me, so I told him to
put the hat away and play fair. He saw that I was no "sucker," so
he put it away. We played for some time, and it was all I could
do to keep even by playing on the square with big "injins," as I
found them very good card players. I held out a hand, but had to
wait some time for the "wild man of the forest." At last there
was a big "blind and straddle," and I kept raising it before the
draw. They all "stayed," and drew two or three cards (I do not
remember which). I took one, and when we came to "show down," I
was the lucky fellow. This was too much for the bucks, so three
of them dropped out, and left an old chief and myself single-handed.
As I was over $150 ahead of the game, I played liberally, to draw
the old chieftain on; and as he had one of his bucks walking around
behind, and talking "big injin" all the time, he was getting the
best of me. I knew that my hands were being given away, but I did
not let them know that I was onto their racket. I waited my chance,
and clinched onto four fours and a jack. I kept "going blind,"
until the chief got a good hand, and then he came back at me strong.
We had it hot and heavy. I let the buck see my hand until it came
to the draw, and then I shifted the hand, and came up with the four
fours and the jack, but the warrior did not see me get _that_ hand.
I then made a big bet. The old chief called his squaw, and she
brought him a sack of silver. He then "called" me. We showed
down; the money was mine; and then you should have seen the fun.
The buck that had been giving my hand away started to run. The
old chief jumped up, grabbed his tomahawk, and lit out after him.
I jerked off my coat, dumped all the silver into it, jumped into
my buggy, and lost no time in getting out of that neck of the woods.
As I was going at a 2:40 gait, I looked back and saw the buck and
old chief going through the woods. I never knew whether the old
man caught the buck or not, but I do know he did not catch me. I
took desperate chances to win that pot, and I was very lucky in
not losing my scalp. I never inquired when the Indians were to be
paid off again, for I had no notion of paying them a visit. Any
one who has a desire to play poker with "big injins" has my consent;
but I would advise them to play a square game, and keep their eye
skinned for the big "buck" that talks to the chief.