The ace of clubs,--you have it.' "Now the whole time the ghost was dealing the cards, my father never took his eyes off of him, for he wasn't quite aisy in his mind at all; but when he saw him turn up the trump, and take a strong drink afterwards, he got more at ease, and began the game.
"How long they played it was never rightly known; but one thing is sure, they drank a cruel deal of sperits.

Three quart bottles my father brought with him were all finished, and by that time his brain was so confused with the liquor, and all he lost,--for somehow he never won a game,--that he was getting very quarrelsome.
"'You have your own luck to it,' says he, at last.
"'True for you; and besides, we play a great deal where I come from.' "'I've heard so,' says my father.

'I lead the knave, sir; spades! Bad cess to it, lost again!' "Now it was really very distressing; for by this time, though they only began for a pint of Beamish, my father went on betting till he lost the hearse and all the six horses, mourning cloaks, plumes, and everything.
"'Are you tired, Mr.Free?
May be you'd like to stop ?' "'Stop! faith it's a nice time to stop; of course not.' "'Well, what will ye play for now ?' "The way he said these woods brought a trembling all over my father, and his blood curdled in his heart.

'Oh, murther!' says he to himself, 'it's my sowl he's wanting all the time.' "'I've mighty little left,' says my father, looking at him keenly, while he kept shuffling the cards quick as lightning.
"'Mighty little; no matter, we'll give you plenty of time to pay,--and if you can't do it, it shall never trouble you as long as you live.' "'Oh, you murthering devil!' says my father, flying at him with a spade that he had behind his chair, 'I've found you out.' "With one blow he knocked him down, and now a terrible fight begun, for the ghost was very strong, too; but my father's blood was up, and he'd have faced the Devil himself then.

They rolled over each other several times, the broken bottles cutting them to pieces, and the chairs and tables crashing under them.