High Life in New York: A series of letters to Mr. Zephariah Slick, Justice of the Peace, and Deacon of the church over to Weathersfield in the state of ConnecticutStephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)
General
High Life in New York: A series of letters to Mr. Zephariah Slick, Justice of the Peace, and Deacon of the church over to Weathersfield in the state of Connecticut
Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia)
New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
By gauly, I beat agin; and by that time, they all begun tu look a trifle
rily. The checkered trousers he took the cards and gin em a snap along
the eends that might a ben heard in the street. With that, he slapped em
down on the table, and sez he, a nodden his head at me, sez he, "I'll
bet fifty dollars you don't beat this time." With that, he larfed till
the hair on his upper lip curled up and showed his teeth, like a dog
when he snarls.
"Nonsense," sez Miss Sneers, "we can beat twenty such felers--you and I,
Mr. Slick, can't we?"
"I ruther thinks so," sez I.
"I'll bet fifty dollars," sez checkered trousers, "that we beat you all
hollow."
"I'll bet you don't," sez I, a rilin up.
"Plank the money," sez he, a slappin the cards agin, "plank the chink."
I took your old wallet from the leetle pocket in my under vest, and
unrolled the bills that I'd put there arter sellin out the sloop
load--"I spose you think I haint got it," sez I, a shakin the harnful of
bills that was left. "Hurra for old Connecticut!" The other chaps they
shell'd out, and a hull heap of bills lay on the table. Miss Sneers she
went away a minute, and then bent over me agin, with another glass of
that white cider in her hand--she held the glass to my lips, and
wouldn't take it away till I'd drunk the hull.
That was prime cider, and I was a beginnin to feel dry agin, so I drunk
another glass; and at it we went, shovel and tongs. As true as you live,
they raly did beat that game; and when they saw how wrothy I was, they
offered tu bet a hundred dollars on my luck the next time. I don't know
who beat arter that; for somehow I seemed tu be sort o' dreamin; the
candles seemed tu be a darncin round us, and it seemed as if the cards
were leetle teenty folks, all alive and a grinnin at us as we handled
em. I took out the old wallet every few minutes--I du seem to remember
that--and arter it was empty, Miss Sneer's brother, sez he, "Never mind,
my boy, we'll take your autograph."
"I don't keep any such new-fangled varmints," sez I.
"Oh, on'y jest write your name here," sez he, a handin over a strip of
paper.
"Jest so," sez I, a takin the pen he held out; "jest so, but good gauly,
du hold the paper still. I can't ketch up with it if it moves about the
table this way."
"It's your hand," sez he.
"My hand!" sez I--"you git out!"
I gin a dive at the paper and held it kinder still, while I did up a
long tailed J. I had tu begin agin at the S, but arter a dive or tu, I
curlecued it up about right, and then we went tu playin cards agin. They
seemed tu take a great shine tu my name that night, and kept a askin me
for it every few minutes, till I went away. I don't jest know when Miss
Sneers went away, or exactly how I got away myself; but the next
morning I woke up in my bunk with the darndest head ache that I ever
dreamed on. Captin Doolittle he sot in the cabin a lookin at me, and a
cryin like a great baby.
"What's the matter, Captin?" sez I, a turnin over.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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