steamers, and of the excitement on deck as first one and then the other
gained a slight advantage. Stories, more or less reliable, have been
told again and again of the immense sums of money made and lost by
speculators who backed their own boats against all comers. Tricks and
jokes also prevailed and continue up to the present time. The passenger
on a Tennessee River boat is almost sure to be told how a very popular
first mate escaped arrest by disguising himself as a cook. The story is
amusing enough to bear repetition, and bereft of corroborative detail,
evidently designed to lend artistic verisimilitude to the narrative, it
is as follows:

The boat was detained at a landing at a small Kentucky town where the
laws against gambling were supposed to be very strict. Some of the
officers of the boat were determined to kill time by staking a few
dollars at poker, faro or something worse, and inquiries were made in
consequence as to where a game could be found. These resulted
satisfactorily from the gamblers' standpoint, and the crowd took
themselves to the appointed spot, taking with them the very stout,
good-natured, but not very speculative first mate. The game was played
in a small room at the rear of an almost equally small restaurant.
Everything went well for awhile, and those who were winning thought they
had everything the heart could possibly desire. All at once one of the
colored help came rushing in with a notification that the place was
being raided.

It was a case of every man for himself. As is usual in cases of this
kind, one or two got under the table, where of course they were promptly
found and arrested. Two others jumped out of the window, into the arms
of two deputies, who were standing there to receive them. The mate,
caught for the first time in his life in a gambling resort, thought of a