354 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Decetnber 



GAMcT-LING h» MEXiCO. 



Characters Met With Iti the Gaiwing Koonaa 

 of the Crpii^l City. 



Enter a Moxiciin gambline; saiooii 

 when things are a little eiack, r,: . 

 you will see the habitues of tl:j 

 monte table di:r-cn.siiiig the topics o.^; 

 the day while they roll their cirii- 

 rettes and loll back in their chairs as 

 if they had met for no other par- 

 pose. Seated on a chair a httle re- 

 moved from the table is a man who 

 has probablj^ inhabited tl^e gambliiig 

 saloon for daj's past. He is nov: 

 overcome with gleep, and as he sii:^ 

 with his legs crr^ssed and his head 

 rocking froro side to side one won- 

 ders how he can keep his seat or 

 how it is that his greasy tall hr>t 

 does not topple off. 



Then yon will see an unshaven, 

 unkempt fellow nursing his knee 

 and moodily gazing at the roulet;o 

 table for hours, while the little ball 

 spins round and the croupier rakes 

 in the coin and hands out the win- 

 nings with machiuelike deftness aijl 

 accuracy. No one ever suspects the 

 croupier. Nine out of ten of those 

 who bet and win have no idea of 

 •what is coming to them. But they 

 take what the croupier gives them 

 as a matter of course. Ho has no in- 

 ducenjent to cheat, for the bank is 

 not his, and anyway the bank mu. t 

 win in the long run, come what may. 



A Chinaman may saunter in to 

 give some aninnition to the tablf. 

 He asks for no chips, but wagers 

 hard, cold silver. Where the Mexi- 

 can lays %\ he will lay $5, and offer- 

 er than not he wins. With the ab- 

 sence of ur; dignified hurry and ea- 

 gerneps peculiar to the oriental lu 

 does not tike in his winnings vX 

 once, but produces a cigarette, roll-; 

 and lights it and then lays holds of 

 his dollai's. You will be sure to sec 

 at any talile a mild lunatic with p;- 

 per and pencil befoi-e him notin-^ 

 each })oint and slor.iy laying foun- 



da^'ii.iao cf ■; "ii"'," '' -"•■'■'-"'■'•■'' I - 



tem." As if there were anv wav of 



obviating a law of nature! 



Now and then a young gamblei^ 

 will enttir, brinj^ing with him into 

 the heavy laden atmosphere a gust 

 of fresh air from the street. He 

 will bet and have a run of luck that 

 will draw to him the attention of all 

 the lack luster eyes th(it surround 

 the table. One or more will gradur 

 ally sidle up to him and with parchr 

 ed, trembling lips ask him where hei 

 is going to place his money and ask 

 leave to follow his lead. 



Where but round the gambling 

 table do you see so many and such 

 striking examples of statuesque im- 

 mobility? You count not, by min- 

 utes, but by hours, the time that 

 gray haired votarj- of chancehas sat 

 with his eyes fixed on vacanoy. And 

 how much longer will he stay in 

 that posture? Perhaps pntil the 

 lamps are turned off in th§ i?ray 

 morning or until he summons up 

 energy enough to stagger off to the 

 pawnshop to raise a pittance. And 

 that man who has sat so long with 

 his head buried in his hands — what 

 is he thinking of? Perhaps of the 

 home as it was once and as it might 

 have been still. 



A sprinkling of Anglo-Saxons is 

 generally there to give heightened 

 piquancy to the scene. A "sporty" 

 railroad conductor just in from his 

 run perhaps goes there to try his 

 luck, and you may see the tattered, 

 demoralized specimen of his race 

 who in sheer pity has been given a 

 trial and turned off by all the Amer- 

 ican enterprises in Mexico. How 

 does he get a living now? — Mexican 

 Herald. 



Complacency. 



"Yes," said Willie Wibbles, "I 

 went to the weception with a boil 

 on my neck." 



"And what did your friends think 

 of you?" 



"All jijalous, deah boy. It was 

 the sweilest thing there." — Wash- 

 ington Star. 



