272 MARK TWAIN'S SKETCHES. 



She asked me not to gamble. She whispered and said, " Put up those wicked 

 cards this minute ! — two pair and a jack, you numskull, and the other fellow's 

 got a flush ! " 



I never have gambled from that day to this — never once — without a "cold 

 deck" in my pocket. I cannot even tell who is going to lose in games that are 

 being played unless I dealt myself. 



When I was two years of age she asked me not to drink, and then I made a 

 resolution of total abstinence. That I have adhered to it and enjoyed the benefi- 

 cent effects of it through all time, I owe to my grandmother. I have never 

 drunk a drop from that day to this of any kind of water. 



