During the summer of the Centennial year I followed the races;
gambling on horses, running faro bank, red and black, old monte,
and anything else that came up. I had a partner at the beginning
by the name of John Bull, of Chicago, and he was a good, clever
boy. He dealt faro, and I the red and black. We separated at
Jackson, Mich., he going to Chicago and I to Cleveland, where I
witnessed the great race between "Goldsmith Maid" and the horse
"Smuggler," on which I lost some money; but I had a good game of
red and black, so I was about even. I then concluded I would follow
the trotters through the circuit. While sitting at the hotel one
day in Cleveland I saw on the opposite side of the street a face
and form that I thought I recognized. I ran over, and sure enough
it was my old partner, Canada Bill, and with him another great
capper by the name of Dutch Charlie. I was more than glad to see
Bill, and he was very glad to see me. He wanted me to tell him
where I had been, what I had been doing, and where I was going,
and would up by saying:
"George, let's go and get something."
We soon found a bar-room, and began telling each other all that
had happened since we were last together. I told Bill I had about
made up my mind to follow the horses through the circuit. He told
me that he and Charlie were going to do the same thing, and insisted
that I should join, allowing as "how we three would make a good,
strong team." I agreed. So it was settled we would all work
together. While we were talking a slick-looking fellow, who I took
to be a store clerk, walked in, and Bill invited him to take a
drink, which he did, and I was introduced to Mason Long, who now
styles himself "the converted gambler." Bill, Charlie, and I left
Cleveland and went to Buffalo, but the night we left we had downed
a sucker for $1,300, and thought best not to wait for morning.
We caught some good ones on the trip over, and they set up a great
big kick. They telegraphed a description of Bill to Buffalo, so
we got him to get off before we reached the city, telling him where
to meet Charlie and myself the next day. We went on to the city
and waited for Bill to show up, which he did the next night. He
was too smart to come in by rail, so he got a man to drive him in.
We kept him in his hotel for a few days, until we thought the
kickers that we had beat out of $2,100 had left the city. Then we
made him dress up in store clothes, which he did not like a bit,
saying:
"I don't feel good in the tarnal stuff things, nohow."
We thought best not to try our old games in Buffalo for fear the
police would be looking for Bill, so we played the faro banks, bet
on horses, and quit big losers at the end of the week. Dutch
Charlie saved his money. He did not play the bank or horses, and
it was well for us that he did not, for we always had a roll to
use in making a bluff, which sometimes we would not have had if it
had not been for him. We went from Buffalo to Rochester, and as
we did not catch any kicking sucker on the way down, we had clear
sailing during the week. We won a pile of money at monte, but Bill
and I lost heavily at the races and faro banks. From Rochester we
went to Utica, where I remained but a day or two, then concluded
to run down to Philadelphia and see the Exposition. I bid the boys
good-bye, promising to return before they left Utica. I did not
take but little money with me, as I did not expect to do any bluffing
while I was away. I took in the faro banks the first night, and
the next day did not have a dollar. I started out on the street
and soon met a man that I knew by the name of John Wilson. I saw
by his actions he was like myself, "running light," for he did not
ask me to take something, which I knew was his custom, for he was
a clever fellow. We understood each other very soon, and parted.
I had not gone very far until I heard some one call my name. I
looked up, and saw two old friends of mine from New Orleans in a
carriage that had just passed me. Then I knew I had struck oil.
I lost no time in getting alongside of that rig and shaking hands
with Samuel DeBow and Wm. Graham from my adopted home. They invited
me to accompany them to the Exposition grounds, which I was very
glad to do. They soon saw by my actions that something was out of
tune, so they pressed me to know what it was. I told them, and I
soon had all the money I wanted. After taking in the Exposition
and a very large quantity of wine, I bid my friends good-bye,
promising to meet them in Saratoga within a week. I went back to
Utica and found that the boys, Bill and Charlie, had won $3,800,
and they insisted that I was in with it. From Utica we went to
Poughkeepsie, and in a few days I again left the boys to meet my
New Orleans friends at Saratoga. I put up at the same hotel where
they were stopping. The next day we took in the races, where I
met another friend by the name of Rufus Hunt. He was well posted
and gave us some good pointers. We bought pools and won $900.
Then we all tried to see how much wine we could take in, and I do
believe we got in $900 worth.
Canada Bill came over, and we spent a week with my friends. Then
we promised to meet them in New York City, and left for Poughkeepsie,
where we found Dutch Charlie, and we all took a Hudson river boat,
called the _Mary Powell_, for New York. On our way down we got
into a friendly game of euchre with an old gent, and we relieved
him of $700. After dinner I went up on the roof and saw my old
friend Captain Leathers, of the steamer _Natchez_, in the pilot-
house. He was insisting that his boat could beat the _Mary Powell_,
and when he saw me he said:
"I can prove it by that man coming up here now."
I was glad to see the old fellow so far from home, so I told the
pilot that the _Natchez_ was the fastest boat on the Mississippi;
and Captain Leathers went down to see the boys and the barkeeper.
Bill, Charlie, and I remained in New York for some time, and we
proved what old Bill said in Cleveland: "We three would make a
good, strong team."
The time came when I was compelled to leave the boys and go to
Chicago, and that was the last I saw of old Canada Bill and Dutch
Charlie until the following winter, when they both came down to
New Orleans, and them we again made the suckers think we three were
a good team.