Devol, George H. Forty Years a Gambler on the Mississippi; A Cabin Boy in 1839; Could Steal Cards and Cheat the Boys at Eleven; Stock a Deck at Fourteen; Bested Soldiers on the Rio Grande During the Mexican War; Won Hundreds of Thousands from Paymasters, Cotton Buyers, Defaulters, and Thieves; Fought More Rough-and-Tumble Fights than Any Man in America, and was the Most Daring Gambler in the World . New York: George H. Devol, 1892. [format: book], [genre: memoir; autobiography]. Permission: Northern Illinois University
Persistent link to this document: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/file.php?file=devol.html

I had been attending to business pretty faithfully, and had accumulated some wealth, when it struck me I must take a rest; so when I arrived in New Orleans I laid off. I was playing the "bank" one night, and was a big loser. There was a big fighter came in and sat down at the same table, and in a short time he began to pick up checks. I thought he would take some of mine next, and I was not in the humor to let any one take my checks. Sure enough, he clinched onto a stack I had on the nine. I said to him, "Those are my fifty." He raised up, took me by the collar, and said, "You're a d—d liar." I thought I would get the old head ready for business once more, so I argued the question with him until I saw an opening, and then I let him have it just between the eyes. He dropped all in a heap, and it was some time before they could get him to sit up. He was pretty badly hurt; his nose was broken down flat with his face; the blood was running out of his ears, and I thought it was about time for me to get out. I cashed in my checks and quit the game over $6,000 loser. So you see a man must fight at times, even when

he has quit his regular business, and is laying off for a rest.