Deputy Cochran, however, had
become oblivious to the scene. His eyes withdrew themselves from the
rain-dark and casually traced themselves over the memories his calling had
left him.
"There was Blacky Weed some years ago," he went on. "And Viana, the choir
boy. And to come down to more recent incidents, Harry Ward, the 'Lone
Wolf.' I played cards with them all and can truthfully say I won most of
the games played to which I refer, with the exception of those played with
the 'Lone Wolf,' hanged recently, if you recall.
"I will say that the chief trouble with the doomed men as I have engaged
in games of chance with is their inability to concentrate. Now cards, to
be properly played, requires above all a gift of the ability to
concentrate. Recognizing this I have always refused to play for money with
the doomed as I have been watch over, saying to them when they pressed the
matter, 'No, m'lad. Let's make it just a sociable game for the fun there's
in it rather than play for money.'
"There are others not so scrupulous," hinted Deputy Cochran. "Take for
instance, the example of the newspaper man as was Eddie Brislane's friend
and comforter. He was with him in the cell most of the time before the
hanging, and two days before the aforesaid he paid Brislane $50 for a
story to be printed exclusively in his paper.
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