A column of "Queries" and a few brief stories and jokes
brighten the sheet. The price is fifteen cents, and every copy of "The
Ocean Breeze" is highly prized. On the whole, people at sea enjoy most
the enforced rest, for they escape newspapers, telegrams, creditors, and
the tax-gatherer.
At 11 o'clock on the deck, every pleasant day, a large, well-dressed man,
attended by his valet, generously opened a barrel of fresh oysters for
the passengers. This benevolent gentleman proved to be a famous Saratoga
gambler. In this way he made many acquaintances and friends, and each day
he increased his winnings at cards and in bets on the vessel's run, till
finally, not he, but the guileless passengers paid for the oysters.
Gambling was the business of the man who advertised by his oysters; with
the actor, who romped with the pretty child, gambling was a passion. So
intense was this passion with the actor that he would attempt to match
silver dollars or gold sovereigns with everybody he met when ashore;
between acts on the stage he would telegraph his bet to distant cities.
Crossing parks or walking down Broadway his palm concealed a coin, ready
for the first possible chance. He would match his coat or his home or
even his bank account.
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