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Wink Martindale |
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Miscellaneous |
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Deck Of Cards |
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NARRATIVE: |
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During the North African campaign, a bunch of soldier boys had |
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been on a long hike and they arrived in a little town called Casino. The |
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next morning being Sunday, several of the boys went to Church. A sergeant |
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commanded the boys in Church and after the Chaplain had read the prayer, |
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the text was taken up next. Those of the boys who had a prayer book took |
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them out, but this one boy had only a deck of cards, and so he spread |
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them out. The Sergeant saw the cards and said, "Soldier, put away those |
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cards." After the services was over, the soldier was taken prisoner and |
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brought before the Provost Marshall. |
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The Marshall said, "Sergeant, why have you brought this man |
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here?" "For playing cards in church, Sir." "And what have you to say for |
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yourself, son?" "Much, Sir," replied the soldier. The Marshall said, "I |
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hope so, for if not I shall punish you more than any man was ever |
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punished." The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on the march for about six |
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days. I have neither a Bible nor a prayer book, but I hope to satisfy |
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you, Sir, with the purity of my intentions." And with that, the boy |
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started his story: |
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"You see Sir, when I look at the Ace, it reminds me that there |
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is but one God. And the Deuce reminds me that the Bible is divided into |
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two parts, the Old and the New Testaments. When I see the Trey, I think |
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of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And when I see the Four, I |
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think of the four Evangelists who preached the Gospel; there was Matthew, |
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Mark, Luke and John. And when I see the Five, it reminds me of the five |
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wise virgins who trimmed their lamps; there were ten of them: five were |
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wise and were saved, five were foolish and were shut out. When I see the |
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Six, it reminds me that in six days, God made this great heaven and |
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earth. When I see the Seven, it reminds me that on the seventh day, God |
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rested from His great work. And when I see the Eight, I think of the |
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eight righteous persons God saved when He destroyed this earth; there was |
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Noah, his wife, their sons and their wives. And when I see the Nine, I |
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think of the lepers our Savior cleansed, and nine out of the ten didn't |
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even thank Him. When I see the Ten, I think of the Ten Commandments God |
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handed down to Moses on a table of stone. When I see the King, it |
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reminds me that there is but one King of Heaven, God Almighty. And when I |
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see the Queen, I think of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is Queen of |
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Heaven. And the Jack or Knave is the Devil. When I count the number |
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of spots on a deck of cards, I find 365, the number of days in a year. |
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There are 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year. There are 4 suits, the |
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number of weeks in a month. There are 12 picture cards, the number of |
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months in a year. There are 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter. |
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So you see, Sir, my pack of cards serves me as a Bible, an Almanac and a |
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Prayer Book." |
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"And friends, the story is true. I know, I was that soldier." |
