Deck Of Cards

Recorded by T. Texas Tyler

Traditional Arrangement

NARRATIVE:

During the North African campaign, a bunch of soldier boys

had been on a long hike and they arrived in a little town

called Cascina. The next morning being Sunday, several of

the boys went to Church. A sergeant commanded the boys in

Church and after the Chaplain had read the prayer, the text

was taken up next.

Those of the boys who had a prayer book took them out, but

this one boy had only a deck of cards, and so he spread

them out. The Sergeant saw the cards and said, "Soldier

put away those cards." After the services was over, the

soldier was taken prisoner and brought before the Provost

Marshall.

The Marshall said, "Sergeant, why have you brought the

man here?" "For playing cards in church, Sir." "And what

have you got to say for yourself, son?" "Much, Sir."

Replied the soldier. The Marshall said, "I hope so, for

if not I shall punish you more than any man was ever punished."

The soldier said, "Sir, I've been on the march for about

six days, I had neither Bible nor prayer book, but I hope to

satisfy you, Sir, with the purity of my intentions."

With that, the boy started his story:

You see Sir, when I look at the "ACE", it reminds me that

there is but one God;

And the "DEUCE" reminds me that the Bible is divided into

two parts; The Old and the New Testaments;

And when I see the "TREY", I think of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Ghost;

And when I see the "FOUR", I think of the four Evangelists

who preached the Gospel. There was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John;

And when I see the "FIVE", it reminds me of the five wise

virgins who trimmed their lamps. There were ten of them, five

were wise and were saved. Five were foolish and were shut out;

And when I see the "SIX", it reminds me that in six days,

God made this great heaven and earth;

When I see the "SEVEN", it reminds me that on the seventh day,

God rested from His great work;

And when I see the "EIGHT", I think of the eight righteous

persons God saved when He destroyed this earth. There was

Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives;

And when I see the "NINE", I think of the lepers our Saviour

cleansed. And nine out of the ten didn't even thank Him.

When I see the "TEN", I think of the Ten Commandments God

handed down to Moses on a table of stone;

When I see the "KING", it reminds me that there is but one

King of Heaven, God Almighty;

And when I see the "QUEEN", I think of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

who is Queen of Heaven;

And the "JACK" or "KNAVE" is the Devil;

When I count the number of spots on a deck of cards,

I find 365, the number of days in a year;

There;s 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year;

There's 4 suits, the number of weeks in a month;

There's 12 picture cards, the number of months in a year;

There's 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter;

So you see, Sir, my pack of cards serves me as a Bible,

Almanac and Prayer Book.

"And friends, this is a true story, because I was that soldier."

Note. Some sources credit T. Texas Tyler as the writer of the song.

However, other sources say it was the basis for a sermon by a

preacher in the late 1800's.