Jim had disappeared; until when we had made way to another monte table there he was, his hands in his pockets, his cigar half smoked.  
More of a crowd was here; the voice of the spieler more , yet low-pitched and businesslike. He was a study—a square-shouldered, well set-up, wiry man of olive , finely features save for nose somewhat cruelly , of short black moustache, dead black long hair, and, placed boldly wide, contrastive hard gray eyes that lent atmosphere of coldness to his face. His hat was pulled down over his forehead, he held an unlighted cigar between his teeth while he mechanically and shifted the three cards (a diamond flashing from a finger) upon the baize-covered little table.
 
Money had been . He had just raked in a few notes, adding them to his pile. His monotone droned on.
 
“Next, ladies and gentlemen. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. That is my business. The play is yours. You may think I have two chances to your 119one; that is not so. You make the choice. Always the queen, always the queen. You have only to watch the queen, one card. I have to watch three cards. You have your two eyes, I have my two hands. You spot the card only when you think you can. I meet all comers. It is an even gamble.”
 
Jim remarked us as we joined.
 
“How you comin’ now?” he greeted of me.
 
“We won a dollar,” My Lady responded.
 
“Not I. She did the choosing,” I corrected.
 
“But you would have chosen the same card, you said,” she prompted. “You saw how easy it was.”
 
“Easy if you know how,” Jim asserted. “Think to stake a leetle here? I’ve been keepin’ cases and luck’s breaking ag’in the bank to-night, by gosh. Made several turns, myself, already.”
 
“We’ll wait a minute till we get his system,” she answered.
 
“Are you watching, ladies and gentlemen?” bade the , in that even tone. “You see the eight of clubs, the eight of spades, the queen of hearts. The queen is your card. My hand against your eyes, then. You are set? There you are. Pick the queen, some one of you. Put your money on the queen of hearts. You can turn the card yourself. What? Nobody? Don’t be pikers. Let us have a little sport. Stake a dollar. Why, you’d toss a dollar down your throat—you’d lay a dollar on a race—you’d bet that much on a yellow dog if you owned him, just to show 120your spirit. And here I’m offering you a straight proposition.”
 
With a muttered “I’ll go you another turn, Mister,” Jim stepped closer and planked down a dollar. The dealer cast a look up at him as with pleased surprise.
 
“You, sir? Very good. You have spirit. Money talks. Here is my dollar. Now, to prove to these other people what a good guesser you are, which is the queen?”
 
“Here,” Jim said confidently; and sure enough he faced up the queen of hearts.
 
“The money’s yours. You never earned a dollar quicker, I’ll , friend,” the dealer acknowledged, imperturbable—for he evidently was one who never evinced the least emotion, whether he won or lost. “Very good. Now——”
 
From behind him a man—a newcomer to the spot, who looked like any respectable Eastern merchant, being well dressed and grave of face—touched him upon the shoulder. He turned ear; while he inclined farther they whispered together, and I witnessed an arm steal swiftly forward at my side, and a thumb and finger slightly bend up the extreme corner of the queen. The hand and arm vanished; when the dealer fronted us again the queen was just as before. Only we who had seen would have marked the corner.
 
The act had been so clever and so audacious that I fairly held my breath. But the gambler resumed his flow of talk, while he fingered the cards as if totally that they had been with.
 
“Now, again, ladies and gentlemen. You see how it is done. You back your eyes, and you win. I find that I shall have to close early to-night. Make your hay while the sun shines. Who’ll be in on this turn? Watch the queen of hearts. I place her here. I the three cards a little——” he gave a swift flourish. “There they are.”
 
His audience hesitated, as if fearful of a trick, for the bent corner of the queen, raising this end a little, was plain to us who knew. It was absurdly plain.
 
“I’ll go you another, Mister,” Jim responded. “I’ll pick out the queen ag’in for a dollar.”
 
The gambler smiled grimly and his shoulders.
 
“Oh, pshaw, sir. These are small stakes. You’ll never get rich at that rate and neither shall I.”
 
“I reckon I can set my own limit,” Jim .
 
“Yes, sir. But let’s have action. Who’ll join this gentleman in his guess? Who’ll back his luck? He’s a winner, I admit that.”
 
The gray eyes dwelt upon face and face of our half circle; and still I, too, hesitated, although my dollar was burning a hole in my pocket.
 
My Lady whispered to me.
 
“All’s fair in love and war. Here—put this on, with yours, for me.” She slipped a dollar of her own into my hand.
 
Another man stepped forward. He was, I judged, a teamster. His clothes, of shirt, belted trousers and six-shooter and dusty boots, so indicated. And his beard was shaggy and unkempt, almost covering his face his slouch hat.
 
“I’ll stake you a dollar,” he said.
 
“Two from me,” I heard myself saying, and I saw my hand depositing them.
 
“You’re all on this gentleman’s card, remember?”
 
We nodded. The bearded man tipped me a .
 
“You, sir, then, turn the queen if you can,” the gambler challenged of Jim.
 
With quick movement Jim the bent-corner card, and the queen herself seemed to wink at us.
 
The gambler exclaimed.
 
“By God, gentlemen, but you’ve skinned me again. I’m clumsy to-night. I’d better quit.” And he scarcely his level tone despite the of the crowd. “You must let me try once more. But I warn you, I want action. I’m willing to meet any sum you stack up against me, if it’s large enough to spell action. Shall we go another round or two before I close up?” He gathered the three cards. “You see the queen—my unlucky queen of hearts. Here she is.” He stowed the card between thumb and finger. “Here are the other two.” He held them up in his left hand—the eight of clubs, the eight of spades. He transferred them—with his rapid motion he the three. “Choose the queen. I put the game to you fair and square. There are the cards. Maybe you can read their backs. That’s your privilege.” He his eyes upon the teamster. “You, sir; where’s your money, half of which was mine?” He glanced at Jim. “And you, sir? You’ll follow your luck?” Lastly he surveyed me with a flash of steely . “And you, young gentleman. You came in before. I dare you.”
 
The bent corner was more pronounced than ever, as if by the manipulations. It could not possibly be mistaken by the knowing. And a sudden shame me—a of this advantage to which I was stooping; an advantage gained not through my own wit, either, but through the dishonorable trick of another.
 
“There’s your half from me, if you want it,” said Jim, slapping down two dollars. “This is my night to howl.”
 
The teamster backed him.
 
“I’m on the same card,” said he.
 
And not to be outdone—urged, I thought, by a pluck at my sleeve—I boldly followed with my own two dollars, reasoning that I was warranted in recouping, for Benton owed me much.
 
The gambler laughed shortly. His gaze, cool and impertinent, our front. He leaned back, .
 
“Give me a chance, gentlemen. I shall not proceed with the play for that picayune sum before me. This is my last deal and I’ve been loser. It’s make or break. Who else will back that gentleman’s luck? I’ve placed the cards the best I know how. But six or eight dollars is no money to me. It doesn’t pay for floor space. Is nobody else in? What? Come, come; let’s have some ............