Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine — page 141: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

he FIRST NATIONAL fancy shooting, conscientiously and well; therefore, trespassers about the sluices and staked-out claims were few and all account- ed for. Foley made life bearable until the B. Burns Saloon and Casino bloomed swiftly and exotically out of the desert. Its sur- passing magnificence fulfilled Macdonald’s promise to the letter. The saloon shone resplendent in rose- wood, mahogany, and plate-glass. It was stocked with really choice vintages and liquors, and a small but potent side-line of narcotics which put curious strangers gen- tly to slumber while the natives dallied with high stakes in the casino adjoining. The casino itself, an extension wing of the saloon, was equipped not only with the most up-to-date gambling paraphernalia, but also furnished tastefully with cosy chairs, handsome tables, draperies, and val- uable prints, besides affording an intimate little grill where eccentric persons might consume food or the coroner hold an in- quest undisturbed. “Sure thing—Macdonald has went an’ done his dammedest!” chortled Mandy Swatt at the rollicking house-warming; an opinion that every Dry Gulcher shared, then and thereafter. That the B. Burns coiled its tentacles about the community so quickly, however, was due in no small measure to magnetic Doe Yard, who combined the genius of versatility with the indomitable spirit of the pioneer. Monotony was-death to him. He chafed under the ternal sameness of draw poker, California jack, dem pedro, fan-tan, and ace-in-the-pot. Inspired by the gorgeous new casino, he introduced into camp a vol- ume of the immortal Hoyle. Starting at “A,” with “ AH Fours,” he led his enthus- iastic comrades straightway through all the card and dice games in the book, to the Glossary. Thus gambling permanently became the ruling motive for Dry Gulch’s existence. Before long only*the highest possible stakes seemed worth playing for, so that the camp routine came to be fixed in this wise: For six days the miners labored at pan, rocker, and sluice, washing out the fine, \ BANK OF FARO. 483 golden scales, coarser grains, and even nug- gets from the ‘“ placer” gravel. Hardly a claim failed to pan at least its fifty ounces of gold daily. Then, on Saturday afternoon each miner gathered together his. weekly dust, tidied up a bit, and repaired to the General Store. Foley weighed out the dust and took each miner’s orders for necessities and luxuries. And on the evening of the same day (or in the wee hours of the next), each miner and Foley came forth from the B. Burns Saloon and Casino and made his more or less erratic way to his own neat. cottage— virtually flat, cleaned out, busted. - Macdonald had taken his weekly toll. The more skilful among them might have outwitted their evil genius and made the “pile” each had set his heart upon, had it not been for this unwritten law: be- fore leaving the casino the winners in the inter-Hoyle card or diee match must play the roulette-wheel, faro, or other gaming device operated by the house. This practise originally had expressed the community’s gratitude for Macdonald’s raunificent gift. But it was continued, through force of habit and precedent, when plain Macdonald became known to them as “Pluto” Macdonald, and already was cussed as a “ erafter.” Besides, every Dry Gulcher cherished a sneaking notion that if he only could beat the B. Burns and Macdonald just once, he could die smiling. As soon as he would signify his intention of ‘‘ playing the house,” however, all would be over but the shouting—and the proprie- \ tor did that. Not that everything was not fair, open, and above-board! It was, so far as any Dry Gulcher knew. Nevertheless, when Pluto hung over the bar this neatly lettered quotation from his fayorite poet— Here’s a bottle and.an honest friend! What wad ye wish for mair, man? —the Doc was quick to paraphrase an epi- taph by the same poet and scribble on a placard below: Here Ties old Pluto—honest man}; Cheat him, devil—if you can! Then, for he was in a bibulous and a merry mood, he borrowed a can of paint conmiclooolkks.conn