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Show 302 IUCIIMtD JlURDlS. challenge. I had provided myself in Mobile with scn•ralJw.cks, aml, tnking a couple of them in hand, I we1~t forward_ to tho t: bl(•. \\'h id 1 meanwhile hnd been dr;Iwn out m the caLm, :md ~..:o(l \! J Mtrvc; cd my comp:lllions. 0111' puritan cmne forward nt the same 1noment, and in the gravest terms and tones protested aoo~lin s t our ]llaying. ",, :My young friemh:," he cried, <~ let me Leg you_ not to ellgage in this wicked mnuscmcnt. Curds arc-as 1t lws bc~n of! en :mel wclJ said-cnrds nrc the prayer-books of tl1c devil. Jt is by t!Jcsc that he wins so ul s daily to his gloomy kingdom. Nigl1t :mel day he is busy in these arts to entrap the u~nvn ry, whom he blinds aml begu iles, until, wl1cn tiH~Y open th CJr eyes at la st, they OjJCn them in dwclli11gs of damn<.ltion. Oh, my Uenr children, do not venture to follow him so far! Cnst the temptation from you - defy the tempter; tmd, in phce of these dan..,.erous in struments of sin, hem·ken, I pray you, to the goodly out;ourings of a divine spirit. lf you wi ll but suffer me to choose for you a text from this blessed volume-" llere he took a small })Ockct-bible from his bosom, nnd wne about to turn the leaves, when a cry from all around me silenced him in his homily, which promised to be sufficiently unctuous cmd edify ing:- " No text, no text!" was the gcncrnl voice; "none of the parson, none of the parson!" "Nny, my beloved clLildren-" the preach er beg:m, but a tall, good-humored looking fellow-a Georgian, with the :ull face, lively eyes, and clear skin, of that state - came up to hnn, and laid his broad h:md over lLis moutl1. "Shut up, parson, it's no usc. You can't Lc heard now, .for you see it's only civility to let the devil l1ave tl1e fl oo r, scm_ng he was up fir st. If, now, you had been quick enoug-h w1th your prayer-book, and got the whip-l11md of him , c1-n my eyes, but you should have sung out yonr song to the end ~f the verses ; but you've been slow, parson -you've been slee1Hng at your stand, and the deer's got round you. You'll get. smoked by the old one, yourself, if you don't mind, for ncglcctmg your duty." . , u Peace, vnm young man !- 1 He wa& about to begin a furious denunciation, but wns a · Ai\10;.-{IJ 1'1/E ENF:~I \'. 303 lowed to procccci no further. 'rho clamor was unan imous a round him; nnd one tall fell ow, somewl1at danrlyishly accoutred, ]iko wysc!f, com in~ fOrw.u·d, made a show of .seizing upon the ex! Jcrtrr. Here 1 intcqJosccl. " X o violence, geu tl cmcn ; it'.s cnouglL that we 1La.vc silenced tho man-let him not be hurt." "Ay, if he will keep quiet," said the fCllow, still thrcntcning. "Olt, quiet or not," sa id the Georgian," we mustn't hurt tho p:nso n. 'Dang it, l1e sbm't be hurt! l'll stand up for him . rarson, l'll stnncl up for you; but, by tltc hokcy, old black, yon mmt keep your oven close ! " I joined in promising that he would be quiet, and offer no furth er intenuption; and ho so far seemed to warr:mt our n.ssurancc ns, without promising lLimsclf, to take a scat, after a few hnlt'.suppresscd groans, on a bench 11car the table on wl1ich we were about to play. I was fir st struck with suspicion of tiLe fellow by this fact. If the matter were so painful to his spirit, why did he linger in our neighborhood when there were so many parts of the boat to which he might ha,·c retreated 1 The susp icion grew stronger when I found !Lim, nfter a l itt le while, as watchfully attentive to the progress of tho g:1mc ns any of' the pbycrs. l!.,nvorably impressed with tl1e fntnkncss of the Georgian, I proposed that we should play again st the other two persons who wer~ p1:eparcd to sit down to tho table, :md my ofl.Cr was closed wLth mstantly. 'Ve bet, on each hand, on tho highest tn~mp, and on the gnme with each of our opponents, a dollar bemg tho amount of cac1L bet, so tl1at we l!Rd a good many dol· Jars s~akcd on the genera l result of the game. I know that I lost Hmc dollars before the cards haJ been tin· icc den it. I now proceeded to try some of the iricks wiLich I hatl seen others ~CJ:form, and in pu_rticul~i'.that in which the dealer, by a pecultat m.ode of shuffimg, dn•Hles the trumps between llis pnrtner and lnmself. My obj ect was, to fix tiLe attention of one of my opponents, whom I suspected from the fir st to be no better than he should be, simply because 1Le wore a habit 11ot unlike my own, and was covered with trinkets in the same manner. But I l~cked experience: there was still a trick wanting, which no ~lCJght-of-hand of mine could romerly. Though I shuffled the |