Lucky finished his meal and went back to his room for his overcoat. Tonight he was going to the saloons along Last Chance Gulch. He planned to start on his dream for the ranch right away. He stepped out of the hotel and hailed a hack. He told the driver where to take him and then settled back into the seat to think. Lucky didn't notice the buggy with the two men tailing him.
The evening was still early so Lucky headed to the Golden Slipper Saloon. They would have a smaller game going and he could use it to build a stake for the larger games that would be going on later in the week. When he entered the saloon, he noticed that there were more people than usual. They were roughly dressed men and had the look of miners. Lucky remembered reading about some unrest in the Butte mines and wondered if these were some of those miners. They were certainly having a noisy time at the bar and some of the tables in the front of the saloon. He walked on to the back where the card games were going on.
Walking into the gambling room, he stepped to one side. He stood along the wall and let his eyes sweep the room. He wanted to pick the right table to sit in on a game. He saw three tables that had games going but he could tell from the players that they would be playing penny ante games. He needed something a little better. He spotted a game further back in the room that looked interesting. He watched it for a few minutes and then drifted back towards it. A gambler he knew by sight had the biggest stacks of chips but a man who looked like a miner wasn't doing too badly either. As he watched them play another round, one of the men who had been losing got up and disgustedly said, "That's it. You two have all my money now."
The one who looked like a miner said in an Irish brogue, "Never let it be said that Hardrock O'Brien took a man's last dollar." He flipped the man a chip. The man was still disgusted but he didn't turn it down. The gambler never said a word as the disgusted man walked from the room.
Lucky waited for him to clear the room and saw that no one else was moving toward the open chair. He stepped up behind it and asked, "Can anyone sit in on this game?"
Hardrock said, "Why, sure. Bring yer money. I'm hotter than a short fuse tonight. I'll be glad to take yer money and as you just saw, I'll leave ya with a dollar."
Lucky grinned and decided he liked the big Irishman. He pulled some bills out of his wallet and introduced himself. One of the saloon workers came by and soon he had a stack of chips in front of him. They played several hands and Lucky played very cautiously, feeling out their style of playing. He found out that Hardrock was a fair player and his luck had been very hot tonight. The gambler, on the other hand, was too lucky to be true. Lucky watched him closely and knew he cheated. He decided to break the man. He didn't like being taken for a ride and someone like this man gave all gamblers a bad reputation. Lucky could still remember how it felt to have miners forcing him to dig his own grave because they thought he had been cheating.
In a few more hands, two of the other men had enough. They got up and two more men sat down. Lucky played to force the gambler. Little by little, the gambler's pile of chips wound up in front of him. He didn't challenge Hardrock, but he would take a pot from him once in awhile. Hardrock was watching him closely and when he saw him going after the gambler he learned to pull out and save his money. Lucky finally had one pot where the gambler put everything he had in. He won and the gambler declared it a night. The gambler left and shortly Lucky said that he should call it a night, too. He knew he could clean out Hardrock if he wanted to but he left him with his winnings. Lucky had over $300 for the night.
Lucky got up to leave and Hardrock declared he was taking a break for awhile. He caught up to Lucky and said, "Can I buy ya a drink?"
"I don't go for the hard stuff but I would take a beer."
They walked over to a quiet section of the bar and Hardrock ordered a round. He had been imbibing steadily all night but didn't appear to be drunk. When the drinks came, he said, "I noticed that ya trimmed that other fella. Didn't ya care for the cut of his suit?"
"Naw, and I didn't fancy the color either. You should watch out for those dandy men who wear dark blue like that."
"There was something else going on there too, wasn't there?"
"You mean you didn't see him dealing from the bottom of the deck? I think he was setting it up for you to take most of the other men's money and then he planned on cleaning you out or he'd have some friends outside waiting to help you carry that money."
"I didn't see the bottom dealing. I'm going to have to watch closer. Thanks for the warning. You could have cleaned me out too, right?"
"Yes, but I like you. You were hotter than a short fuse tonight, so I just let you have your run of luck."
"I like you too, Lucky Dawson. Maybe we can play again sometime."
"That would be great. Watch out when you leave here."
"I will and you better take yer own advice."
They shook hands and Lucky headed for the door. He decided it was too late to try to find another game, so he started walking down the street to find a hack. As he walked by an alley, two men jumped him. They roughly pulled him back into the alley and were swinging their fists at him as one on each side held his arms. Lucky stomped on the man's instep to his right, feeling a satisfying crunch. The man released his hold and then Lucky hit the other man. He'd aimed at his chin but hit him right in the Adam's apple. The man released Lucky's other arm and Lucky lit in to him, knocking him to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other assailant coming at him and he whirled to attack him. A few blows and a kick later and the man flopped on the ground. Lucky turned back to the man who had held his left arm but the man wanted nothing to do with him. He leaped to his feet and started to run down the alley. The man on the ground saw his retreat and quickly joined him. Lucky brushed himself off and picked up his hat. He put it on and stepped back onto the sidewalk just as Hardrock and a couple of other miners came by.
Hardrock said, "Looks like you had a little argument there."
"Yeah, a couple of apes didn't think I'd paid my taxes. They said I couldn't use the sidewalk and would have to walk in the alley. I convinced them that I'd already paid."
Hardrock and the others laughed. Hardrock said, "Yer welcome to join us. We're headed down the street to that saloon."
A hack came by and Lucky hailed it as he said, "Thanks but I think I'll take this back to the hotel. Hopefully, I'll see you again."
"We'll be here for a few days if we don't find a job. Take care and may the sun always be at yer back."
Lucky climbed into the hack as the miners noisily headed down the street. Hardrock broke out into an Irish ditty and the others joined him in the chorus. Lucky just grinned and told the driver to take him to the Grand Central Hotel. He wondered if those men had been sent by the gambler to get his money back. He knew that he was going to ask the next time he saw the man.
Continuing his routine for the next three days, Lucky didn't have any more trouble with attackers. He saw Hardrock twice but didn't play him again. He waved and once he talked to him for awhile. Still hot, Hardrock enjoyed his success with big cigars and expensive whiskey. Lucky had won all three nights and now had almost a thousand dollars to get into a bigger game on the weekend. He started asking where the bigger games were going to be and found what he was looking for on the coming weekend.
Saturday blew in with a hint of snow in the air. By evening, the snow was falling in big thick flakes. Lucky dressed warmly and was looking forward to the game. He took the hack to the gambling hall and stepped in. The haze of cigar and cigarette smoke made it difficult to see across the room. Following his habit of looking over the room before he moved to the section with the bigger game, he stepped to one side of the door and scanned the room. There were tables scattered across the left side with a few patrons sitting at them. The bar on the right had a good crowd quietly enjoying themselves as they stood there. Toward the rear, a section of the room had been cordoned off with a r
ailing. There were three tables in this area with all of them occupied by card players. A big, muscular man stopped most people from entering. The guard knew Lucky and when he asked if they had an opening in the game, the man let him in. He saw Hardrock at one of the tables and it didn't look like he was doing as well tonight. This place had better players so Hardrock struggled to keep his money. Lucky bought a thousand dollars worth of chips and took a seat. He knew most of the men by sight and some of them knew who he was. Someone brought up the story about him digging his own grave and he had to tell the full story. Everyone around the table got a laugh when he told about finding the gold and getting the miners to give him the claim.
Lucky played for several hours, holding his own. He had won a few pots but none were very big yet. By midnight, the tide started turning with Lucky winning more as the bets grew. A sudden commotion at the door of the gambling hall caused everyone to turn and look. He looked up and saw Long John Krogstad walk in with a couple of his friends and some dance hall women. They were laughing and talking boisterously as the men shoved people out of the way to get to the bar. They made quite a noisy scene as they stood there. The men at Lucky's table returned to their game. Lucky saw Long John looking around but didn't pay him much attention because he was concentrating on the poker game.
One of the players at their table had enough. He had been losing most of the night and finally decided lady luck had deserted him. As the gambler exited, Long John spotted Lucky sitting at the table. He left the bar and pushed right past the guard. He didn't even ask if the seat was open, he just sat down. He pulled out a sheaf of bills and got chips for them. Lucky could see the other players' faces tighten and their eyes narrowed. He suspected they knew about Long John and their reaction said they didn't like him or his reputation. Their body 'English' shouted they didn't want him in this game.
Dean, one of the players, was a local rancher. He said, "John, this is table stakes. When the chips are gone, so are you."
Long John snarled, "You don't have to worry about me being gone. It's you guys who will be gone."
The men at the table could see that he was inebriated but not completely intoxicated. If he had been too drunk to play, they would have refused to play with him but if he was stupid enough to play in a state like this, then they would gladly take his money. Everyone anted up and the game started. It only took two hands for Lucky to see that Long John was a poor player, trying to bluff and intimidate the other players. Lucky hit a hot streak and won some big pots. Long John lost his money fairly quickly and he didn't like it. When he finally won a pot, he let out a big yell and laughed jovially. His friends and the dance hall girls came over to stand behind him, watching his play.
Long John won just enough pots to stay even with his remaining money. His pile of chips was now much smaller than what he had started with but the wins made him start getting very cocky and overconfident. Lucky knew he had about three thousand dollars in front of him and he would've liked to have stopped but he knew it would mean trouble if he did, so he just stayed and bided his time. The other players were very wary now because Long John continued to drink and some of his comments were getting ugly.
Dean dealt and Lucky picked up his cards. He looked at them and had a Jack of diamonds, a ten of spades, a nine of hearts, an eight of spades and King of diamonds. He knew it was the start of a small straight but if he threw away three of the cards, he might be able to draw a Royal Flush. Lucky saw the gleam in Long John's eye and knew he had the start of something but not very big. The betting started and quickly made the biggest pot of the night. One of the players dropped out before they were dealt the rest of their cards. Lucky threw away the King and took one card. Long John took two and the other two players took three cards each. Lucky looked at his card and then laid it back down on the table.
When the bet got to Long John, he jumped it by five hundred dollars. The look of intensity on his face scared another player out. That left just Long John, Dean and Lucky. Dean had the next bet and he raised Long John a hundred dollars. Lucky saw their bet and raised another hundred dollars. Long John's brow beaded with sweat as he saw their bets and raised another five hundred dollars. Lucky suddenly felt Long John trying to bully them into folding. Lucky's face never moved a muscle but he knew he was going to clean Long John out. The railroad man only had about five hundred dollars left in his pile while Lucky still had over two thousand in his stack of chips.
Dean looked at his cards and then at the chips in front of him. He studied his hand for several minutes before Long John glared and growled, "Put up or shut up. Are you going to call?"
Dean calmly said, "I'm thinking. Just wait."
He studied his cards a few more seconds, then folded. Long John reached for the pot when Lucky called him and raised him a thousand. A flash of rage came over Long John's face. He growled, "I only have five hundred twenty here. Will you take my marker?"
Lucky looked him in the eye, "I'm sorry, I don't play that way. I think you would be good for it but the next man might not, so I treat everyone the same. I don't take markers in a game like this."
The rage on Long John's face grew. He snarled, "I'm starting a railroad from Bozeman to Butte. I'll give you sixty shares of it. The shares are worth $20 each."
Dean said, "John, we told you when you sat down that its table stakes. Do you have those shares here?"
Long John became so angry that he held onto his chair to keep from leaping across the table at Dean. Dean was taken back and leaned away from the table. Long John said, "No, I don't. All I have here is this deed for a gold mine. I don't know anything about the mine but the deed includes a section of land along the Missouri River. The land alone is worth five hundred and my five hundred here will call your bet. What do you say?"
Lucky knew that over three thousand dollars lay in the pot and he wanted it. If he didn't take the deed, Long John was out. However, would that enrage him enough to push him over the edge and cause gunplay here? Lucky didn't need that kind of trouble. He liked Helena and didn't want to move on yet.
He asked, "Where is this mine?
One of Long John's friends said, "I can draw you a map…" He got a piece of paper and pencil from the bartender and came back to the table.
While he was gone to the bartender, Lucky asked, "May I see the deed?"
Long John handed the deed over to him and Lucky looked it over. One thing caught his eye right away. This deed had all the water rights to Rattlesnake Creek and more water rights out of the Missouri River. This interested Lucky more than the mine because he knew that water could sometimes be worth more than gold here in Montana. If the map looked interesting, he would gamble for this deed.
The friend came back with the paper and drew a general map on one side. The mine wasn't too far from the small town of Craig. Lucky had never heard of it but he saw that it would be on the rail line coming from Great Falls. That could be another big plus. He could ride the train to Helena or Great Falls when he needed to go somewhere. The man flipped the sheet over and drew a smaller map showing how the land laid against the river. It looked like the banks were pretty steep just a little south of the property and the man said the property sloped back up to the mountains to the east. Lucky decided it was worth a gamble so he told Long John he would accept the deed and his remaining chips as a call.
Long John laid the map and the deed on top of the pile. He pushed his remaining chips into the pot and then he flipped his cards over. He had three aces. Lucky hesitated before he turned his cards over and Long John quickly started to reach for the winnings. Lucky put his left hand on top of Long John's. He turned his cards over to show he had a small straight. He had drawn a seven of hearts. Long John sat back in disgust.
He said, "You are sure Lucky."
"That's my name. I thank you for the game." Lucky raked the chips and deed over to his side of the table. He put the deed and
map in his inside pocket of his coat.
Long John quietly said, "Don't misplace that deed. I just got it this afternoon and it hasn't been recorded yet. Whoever has it can record it."
He got up and stomped out of the gambling hall with all of his followers. The intense game had drawn quite a crowd of onlookers and they now started a dull roar of conversation. The tale of this game would be told and retold for quite some time.
Dean declared, "That's enough for me. I'll see you later. Congratulations. What are you going to do with another mine?"
"I don't know. I know I don't want to work it, so I may have to find a miner. The cash in the pot interests me more."
"I'll bet it does. Maybe we can get together again to give me a chance to get some of it back."
"That sounds good to me."
Lucky finished picking up his chips and cashed them in. He had won $5320 and with his original thousand dollars, he had $6320. He put his money in his pocket and then he saw Hardrock headed for the bar. He walked to intercept him.
Hardrock said, "It looked like ya cleaned that chap out. I don't think he liked that a bit."
"You're right. He doesn't like to lose. How did you do tonight? Are you still hot as a short fuse?"
"Naw, me fuse burnt out. I have a five dollar gold piece left."
"Well, let me buy you a drink this time."
They talked for another thirty minutes and Lucky bought him two more drinks. Finally Lucky said, "I guess I'd better get back to the hotel. Where are you headed?"
"I think I'll go back to the Golden Slipper. They're more my class there. Somehow, without money, I don't feel like I fit in here. Do you want some company for a ways?"
"Sure, come along. Maybe you can sing one of those Irish ditties and cheer yourself up."
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Golden Vengeance Page 7