Sundays, there were seven of us on the yacht. We had been weakfishing
all the forenoon about four miles east of Wreck Lead, and had had fair
luck, but it was wretchedly hot, and, tiring of the sport, we had run
back nearly to Hicks’s Beach again and come to anchor off the best
bathing-ground in the neighborhood, opposite the life-saving station.
Then we had a plunge, and after dressing had gone into the cabin. Two
of the men had gone to sleep and the rest of us had begun a game of
poker. It was the last game I ever played on Sunday. The Commodore had
made all snug above, and had come down into the cabin last of all,
satisfied that everything was right, as we were not in the channel,
and no big boats navigate thereabout anyhow. He was good enough sailor,
however, to leave the game occasionally for a moment or two, just to
take a look around. But not even he thought it worth while to keep a
lookout all the time, for he thought we were as safe as we would have
been in a brick house.
“After an hour or so there came a jack-pot, in which there was some of
the most remarkable drawing I ever saw. The Broker had opened it on a
pair of queens. The Commodore sat next, and, having a pair of sevens,
came in. The Doctor had three spades with a queen at the head, and,
being a brash player at all times, pushed in his chips. I had been
having great luck for a time, and decided to rely on it, so I came in
with an ace. And the Lawyer came also, though he had only two little
four-spots in his hand. We found out all this long afterward when we
were together one night talking over the adventure, and at the same
time we learned what the draw was. It seemed so curious to me that I
wrote it down, so I speak by the card in telling it. The Doctor was
dealing, so I drew the first cards. They were another ace and three
eight spots. The Lawyer caught another four and two tens. The Broker
got three jacks. The Commodore caught a seven and two nines, and the
Doctor got his two coveted spades. A pair of queens was high hand
before the draw, and there were four fulls and a flush around the board
after it. Such a thing may have happened often, but I never happened to
hear of it as happening on any other occasion but this.
“Naturally enough, the betting began furiously, and the chips on the
table were all in the pot presently. We were betting money and were,
some of us, feeling through our pockets for our rolls, when suddenly
the Commodore threw back his head and raised his hand with a sudden
gesture that arrested our attention instantly. Dropping his cards, he
sprang to his feet and started to rush out on deck, when a lurch of the
vessel sent us all sprawling. The squall had struck us. For a moment,
while we were scrambling up, we could feel the yacht tugging at her
anchor, and then with a sudden drive dash onward somewhere. Whither
we could not even guess, being all below, but we afterward found that
it was toward the northeast, the squall coming from the south-west.
Almost at the moment of the snapping of the cable, for it had snapped,
we heard a tremendous crash overhead, and we afterward learned that the
lurch of the boat had thrown her stick out of her.
“The sudden drive meant that we were drifting helplessly toward the mud
flats on the other side of the channel; but before we could ascertain
this--in fact, before any of us could get to the companion-way--the
wretched boat turned turtle. I have heard it denied that such a boat
could turn turtle under such circumstances, and I don’t pretend to
explain how or why it did. All I know is that it did, and it looked as
if we had reached our last quarter of an hour.
“The confusion was indescribable. Of course we were immediately
standing or scrambling on the ceiling of the little cabin, while
everything that had been on the floor fell with us. The water rushed
in more than waist deep, and for a few moments it looked as if the
little room would fill up completely before we could even think what
possibility there was of getting out. Fortunately, however, there was
buoyancy enough about the miserable craft, and the cabin was deep
enough in the hull, to keep it pretty near the water level, and the
air in the room was not immediately displaced. At least that was how
I reasoned it out. All that I can say positively is that whereas I
expected to be totally submerged I found that I could easily enough
keep my head out of water. What air there was in the cabin doubtless
helped to keep us afloat, confined as it was, and for a time--it seemed
a very long time--we were tossed about, splashed, and thrown down, as
the boat rocked and pitched, but we were not drowned.
“At first no one spoke. The situation was too awful for words, and it
seemed as if we were all so shocked as to be mentally stunned. I know I
was for one, and if our escape had depended on my thinking of a means
we would all have perished then and there. Fortunately the Commodore
grasped the situation, and, as we could talk and understand one another
well enough, he told us his plan in a few words. It was simple, and it
gave us at least a chance for life. Moreover, it appeared to be our
only chance.
“‘You can all swim,’ he said. ‘Find a fishing-line. There are plenty in
the cabin.’
“Somebody produced one in a moment. It was on a reel.
“‘Hold fast to the reel,’ said the Commodore. ‘I’ll take one end of the
line and dive through the companion-way. I think I can find my way over
the side and up on the bottom of the boat. I’ll hold my end, and when
you feel three jerks make this end fast. Then you will have to follow,
one at a time. Don’t let go of the line as you go out, and you can’t
miss the way. I’ll hold the other end.’
“‘Very good, Commodore,’ said the Broker, ‘but I’d better go first. You
know what a swimmer I am, and I reckon the man who goes first will have
the hardest job.’
“The Commodore was disposed to dispute this proposition, but the Lawyer
spoke up sharply: ‘Let him go, Commodore,’ he said. ‘It’s a forlorn
hope at best, and he’s far and away the best swimmer.’ So it was
settled, and in another moment the Broker had disappeared.
“Well, that’s all the story. The plan worked and we were all perched on
the keel inside of ten minutes. There we were seen by the life-saving
patrol, and were all taken off safely soon after. I can’t say I ever
enjoyed yachting after that day, and, as I said, I never played poker
on Sunday again.”
Foss Stopped the Game
_ONE OF THE DUTIES OF AN OLD-TIME MISSISSIPPI RIVER PACKET CAPTAIN_
“I have always been a little hazy in my notion of what are the proper
functions of the Captain of a Mississippi River steamboat,” said the
gray-haired young-looking man. “I suppose, really, that nothing would
have been easier than for me to find out, for I traveled a great deal
on the river some years ago, and I knew a lot of people who were
engaged in steamboating as a business, besides enjoying a personal
acquaintance with several of the Captains themselves. But there are
some things that I do not like to know definitely, and this is one of
them. It is more interesting to speculate about them in idle moments
and to think of all sorts of whimsicalities as possible than to get at
the facts, which would not be interesting at all.
“Now, on the lakes, and on such salt-water craft as I have traveled
on, the Captain of the boat is very much in evidence. He has all to
say about everything, and seems to be a sort of court of appeals for
the trial and final disposition of all cases, trivial or important. He
seems to have a personal supervision over every detail of his business,
and to have very little real leisure. It may be, of course, that the
Captain of a Mississippi boat has similar duties and responsibilities,
but it doesn’t seem so to the average passenger.
“In the first place, he seems to have nothing to say about the
navigation of his boat. The pilot attends to that, apparently, all the
time. Then the Captain has little to say to the crew. The mate bosses
the deckhands and the roustabouts, and the engineer has control of his
own department. I suppose the Captain gives them both orders, though
I never saw or heard him do it. I have heard him order the waiters
about in the dining-room, but it seems ridiculous to class that among
his duties. Altogether, to one who doesn’t understand the matter, the
Captain’s office seems suited to comic opera rather than to navigation,
and, as I intimated, I enjoy comic opera too much to want to understand
this.
“There is one thing about the position, however, which is no joke. The
Captain has arbitrary police power over everybody on board his boat,
unless, indeed, the pilot is exempt. I don’t know about that. So well
is this fact understood that I never saw this authority disputed but
once, and on that occasion it was not well for the man who did the
disputing.
“Captain Foss of the river packet Lone Star, plying between St. Louis
and New Orleans some twenty years ago, was one of the finest men I
ever chanced to know on the river. That he was a Southerner no one
could doubt who saw him and heard him talk, but I never knew what State
he came from. He was a man of middle stature and remarkable physical
development, strong as a horse and active as a cat. I think he had been
in the army, for he had a military bearing, but his title of Captain
came, of course, from his position. He was somewhat of a dandy, and
dressed in what was old style even then, but the exquisite neatness
and fine material of his clothing made him conspicuous even among the
wealthy and well-dressed passengers who patronized his boat from choice
whenever they traveled the river.
“Suave, polished, and extremely quiet in his manners on ordinary
occasion, he could blaze out in the most fiery bursts of temper when he
had provocation. I never saw him in a temper but twice, and curiously
enough the trouble grew out of a game of poker each time.
“Poker was always played in the main saloon of the boat at night, as a
matter of course, and I have seen some stiff games played on the Lone
Star, for I made several trips on her. I didn’t hesitate to play there
myself, even with strangers, for I knew the reputation of the boat and
of the Captain, who played himself occasionally, though not very often.
He was called one of the best players on the river, and was known to
be thoroughly upright and believed to be utterly devoid of fear. He
knew all the gamblers who traveled the river, and would not allow any
crooked play in his jurisdiction. It was reported that they all knew
this and had a wholesome respect for his authority, knowing that he
made it a rule to set a man ashore in the wilderness if he was detected
in any underhand work. He had done this several times, and it was
generally believed that there wasn’t a gambler in the country who would
play any tricks on Captain Foss’s boat.
“One night, an hour or two after we had left Memphis on the way down
the river, the Captain sauntered into the saloon looking as if he
hadn’t a care or a responsibility of any kind, and, seeing a game of
cards going on, he walked up to the table and joined the lookers-on,
of whom I was one. It was a fairly stiff game, and there was enough
money changing hands to make it rather exciting, even for those who
weren’t playing. As for the four men who were playing, they seemed
almost dead to the outside world. Whether they were playing beyond
their means, or whether it was simply the excitement of the game that
held them spellbound, I didn’t know, but I had watched them for an hour
and hadn’t heard one of them utter a word beyond what the game called
for. Their faces all showed intense emotion, and one man’s hand shook
so that he had hard work to deal. It may not have been the game that
caused it, but I thought it was.
“After Captain Foss had been standing by for a few minutes, one of
the four, a pale, intellectual-looking man, threw down a losing hand
with some show of temper, and exclaimed with an oath, ‘not loud, but
deep’: ‘I never did have any luck in a four-handed game.’ And looking
around the little group--there were a dozen or more of us--he spied the
Captain.
“‘Captain,’ he said, ‘won’t you take a hand?’
“‘Well,’ said Captain Foss, ‘I don’t mind playing a little while
if none of the other gentlemen object. I didn’t know you were
superstitious, though, Dr. Baisley.’
“The doctor frowned. ‘I guess everybody is who plays cards,’ he replied
shortly.
“‘Possibly,’ said Captain Foss; and as the other three signified a
welcome to him, he drew up a chair and bought some chips.
“It was a curious thing, and to Dr. Baisley it was, no doubt,
‘confirmation strong as proofs of Holy Writ’ of his superstition, but
it is a fact that his luck turned from the moment Captain Foss entered
the game. He had been a heavy loser before. I could count up over a
thousand dollars in chips that I had seen him lose, and I hadn’t seen
all the play. But the turn set the chips rolling back to him so fast
that he was soon even and then winner to a considerable amount.
“Of the others, one was evidently a commercial traveler who had got
into a heavier game than knights of the road often indulge in. Somehow,
he did not seem like a gentleman, and I was not greatly surprised when
he lost his temper, for his luck had changed also. He had been the
largest winner at first, for the other two won and lost in turn, so
that they were not far from even. But as the doctor won, he lost, until
at length he pulled out what seemed to be his last hundred-dollar bill
and bought another stack of chips.
“These, too, he was losing when the doctor beat his flush with a full.
Throwing down his cards, he said, with a nasty sneer: ‘It’s evident
that you knew who to invite into the game.’
“There was a hush for a moment. Everybody seemed to be holding his
breath. We all looked at Captain Foss, and I don’t think anybody
would have been surprised to see him draw a weapon. The insult was a
frightful one, and, as I said, the Captain could blaze on occasions.
“He blazed this time. There was no motion toward physical violence,
but he glared at the fellow as an angry tiger might have glared, and
the veins stood out in uneven knots on his forehead, and his clenched
fists quivered in the struggle for self-control. At first he could not
speak for rage, but presently he swallowed spasmodically twice, and
then broke forth.
“‘If I could lower myself and forget my place so far as to meet such a
vile whelp of a hell-hound as you on common ground, I’d cut your ears
off and make you eat them along with your words. As it is, damn you--’
And then he went on with such a torrent of profane abuse as I for one
never heard before or since. The wretch actually cowered under it like
a whipped dog. He tried to speak once or twice, but he might as well
have tried to whistle down a whirlwind, and presently realizing his
miserable impotence, he shoved the balance of his chips over to the
banker, who cashed them, and slunk away to his stateroom.
“Captain Foss sat talking, or raving, whichever it was, till the
fellow’s door closed. Then he stopped, and we could see that he was
again struggling to control himself. There was another hush, which was
presently broken by a young fellow less than twenty years old, who had
been listening open-mouthed.
“‘My!’ he exclaimed. ‘But that was fine.’
“This brought a general burst of laughter, in which the Captain himself
joined after a few moments, and the strain was over. But I don’t think
there was a man there who would not rather have been shot at than to
have had such a tongue-lashing.
“The fact of the Captain of a passenger boat playing poker in the cabin
when actually in command of her, and in active service, was, I think,
what set me thinking, as I said, about his duties and responsibilities.
It seemed a strange thing to me then, because it was the first time I
ever saw it. But, though the strangeness wore off afterward when I
saw other Captains doing the same thing, I never saw Foss play again,
though I believe he occasionally did so.
“I noticed, however, every time I traveled with him after that, that
he always came into the saloon in the evening and looked at the play
that was going on. And on one occasion I got an inkling of his reasons
for doing this. It was a part of his regular patrol of the boat, and
he was as particular to see that nothing was going wrong at the card
table as he was to see that everything was right elsewhere on the
boat. Of course, poker itself was not considered wrong. It was part of
the regular routine of life. A man could play or not, but a man who
would object to anybody else playing would have been as lonesome as a
prohibitionist in Kentucky.
“Drinking was common on the river boats. Drunkenness was rare. If
there were ladies among the passengers, as commonly there were, drinks
were seldom served in the main saloon till after they had retired.
Then, if a man wanted a drink while he was playing, one of the darkies
would bring it to him.
“On the particular occasion that I speak of a man not over twenty-two
or twenty-three years old was playing cards at a table with four older
men. He was a bright, handsome fellow, with manly ways and a pleasant
manner, who seemed well able to take care of himself even at poker, and
who, indeed, held his own fairly well in the first part of the game.
The play went on, however, far into the night, and a number of drinks
were brought to the table, so that after a time the youngster grew
flushed and began playing wild.
“Captain Foss noticed this, as he noticed everything, but did not
at once interfere. I observed, however, that he passed in and out
several times between the saloon and the deck, and just as I had seen a
particularly foolish play made by the youngster I heard the Captain say
quietly: ‘Gentlemen, the game will have to be closed for to-night.’
“Naturally the players all looked up in surprise, and one or two
attempted a remonstrance, but, noticing the Captain’s expression,
thought better of it. He was smiling pleasantly, but you could tell by
his face that he was in earnest.
“The youngster himself was vehement and vociferous, but the Captain
only smiled at him still more pleasantly, and said again that the game
must be closed for the night. It was easy enough to manage such a case
as his, but after the young fellow had pleaded and sputtered and even
tried feebly to bluster without any success, another man, much older,
of dark visage and thin, sharp features, spoke up in ugly fashion:
“‘I call it a piece of impertinence and a gross assumption of authority
for the Captain of a steamboat or anybody else to undertake to stop a
party of gentlemen playing a friendly game.’
“A quick change came over the Captain’s face. The smile was gone, and
the eyes contracted a little as they seemed to shoot fire, so keen and
brilliant was the look in them:
“‘It is not necessary, Major, to consider what I might or might not
do in case a party of gentlemen were playing a friendly game of poker
here. The point is that this game is going to stop now. Gentlemen
don’t ply boys with liquor and then win money from them, and, by the
Almighty, nobody else is going to do it on my boat.’
“The Major was as angry now as the Captain. He glanced at the other
players, but they all had sufficient grace to be ashamed, or, at least,
to appear so, and with a contemptuous smile, he said: ‘I understand
you perfectly, Captain, and I suppose you will give me satisfaction.
Nobody else seems inclined to demand it, but I am not in the habit of
allowing anybody to lie about me without calling him to account.’
“No law on earth could have prevented those two men from fighting after
that, and there was nobody present to put the machinery of the law in
operation, even if it had been of any avail. The Captain bowed. ‘I will
make a landing on the Arkansas side in twenty minutes,’ he said, ‘and
we can step ashore alone, unless you prefer to take a friend with you.’
“‘No,’ said the Major, ‘I would rather prefer going alone.’
“The two saluted and the Captain strode out of the cabin. The Major,
without deigning a look or a word to any of us, walked over to his
stateroom, entered it, and closed the door.
“There was a good deal of quiet conversation going on for a little
while, but nobody seemed to feel called on--I know I did not--to
interfere, and there was considerable speculation as to which would
kill the other. That one of them would be killed seemed certain, and,
it was my own notion that the Major would be the one. It was true that
I did not know him, but I did know Captain Foss.
“I was right. When the boat slackened speed and then slid her nose into
the mud, stopping with that queer, slow suddenness with which a boat
does stop on a bank, we all went outside to see the two men off. I was
surprised to see that it was daylight, for I had not thought it was
so late. But, looking around, I saw the pilot had chosen an excellent
spot for the purpose in hand. He had run so close to a wooded knoll in
the forest that it was easy to put a gangplank out to reach the firm
ground.
“As he stepped toward this gangplank Captain Foss paused, and,
addressing the mate, said, so that we could all understand him, ‘Do
not allow any one to go ashore for half an hour after I do. If neither
I nor Major Nevins should return in that time, take four men and come
after us.’ Then he turned to Major Nevins, who was close beside him,
and said something to him which no one else could hear. The Major
nodded, and the two stepped ashore together.
“Walking side by side, they disappeared among the trees. Almost
breathlessly, it seemed to me, we all listened for a long time. I don’t
know how long, though I noticed the mate kept his watch in his hand.
Suddenly we heard two shots, almost together. Then there was a pause,
then another shot, then another, then silence.
“Three or four minutes after this we saw Captain Foss walking back
alone toward the boat. Coming on board, he stopped beside the mate and
gave him some orders in an undertone, then passed on to his own room.
The mate saluted, and, calling two men to him, went somewhere aft,
presently returning with a folded cloth in his hand which looked like
a sheet. The two men brought a cot with them, and, following the mate
with two more men, to whom he called, they went ashore and disappeared
in the woods.
“When they returned, some quarter of an hour later, there was a burden
on the cot, which all four men were carrying, and over this burden
the sheet was spread, decently and smoothly. It was carried to Major
Nevins’s room and deposited inside. Then the door was locked and the
key taken to the Captain’s room.
“The boat moved on, and when we reached Helena, which was the next
stopping-place, Captain Foss went ashore alone. In an hour’s time
he returned to the boat with the Coroner of the town, the local
undertaker, and two or three of his assistants. The burden on the cot
was taken ashore, and after a little time the boat went on down the
river.
“If there was ever any prosecution I didn’t hear of it. All I know is
that it was then the custom in Arkansas to allow the survivor to go on
his own recognizance in any case in which the Coroner was satisfied
that there had been a fair fight.”
He Played for His Wife
_A FREEZE-OUT GAME BETWEEN A HUSBAND AND HIS RIVAL_
“For my sins, I suppose it must have been, I lived once in Egypt,”
said the gray-haired young-looking man in the club smoking-room, “and
if Egypt on the other side of the world is anything like the southern
part of Illinois, I can readily understand how the children of Israel
found the wilderness preferable. As I remember the story, though, in
Pharaoh’s realm they had only one plague at a time, whereas in southern
Illinois--however, there may be a better condition of things there now,
so there’s nothing to gain by recalling our experiences. I sincerely
hope things are better, but I scarcely think I have curiosity enough
to go back and find out.
“In our village--for I was a part of it, and a part of it was
mine--about the same conditions obtained as in all the other small
settlements within a hundred miles. We had a railroad station and two
trains a day. We had a post-office and one mail a day. We had a general
store and a blacksmith’s shop and a tavern, and we had a few private
residences. If there was anything else of importance, excepting the
farmers’ wagons, that came in with loads that were too heavy for the
horses, and too often went back with loads that burdened the farmers,
the details have escaped my mind. It was a typical southern Illinois
village.