Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1902-05-03


I'm a-goin' to let this ombrey 60
up against his own game and III back
the game. Eff he wins out. all right;
he gifts away with il. Eff he loses out,
all right, too; but he gifts out ON the
next train after he puts down his
last check
Heating wasn't a coward. but he
was white with rage during this
speech. He cast his glance over the
room to ascertain from the faces of
the others If any of them stood along
with him. When he saw that all the
faces were distinctly sullen and hos
tile, he cleared his throat as if to
say something, but no words were
Forthcoming.
at amt a-goin'., Curtis went on,
never dropping his guns a quarter of
an inch for n second, to take an UNI
due advantage of you. son, but you're
a-goin' TO git egsactly the same kind
of n whisk out o. them two outfits,
to-wit, the box and the wheel. that
you give me. Jest let's see the heft
o. your roll and well do little as
sayin' TO find out how strong you are
before you begin
"'Count the roll, Cole said Honk
TO Ferrand, and the station agent
over the bundle with his practiced
fingers.
There's fourteen thousand here,
Honk,' he said to Curtis when he had
finished counting the money.
"'Good enough said Curtis. Now,
son. addressing Heating, git in and
play ball with the bundle. Eff you
make it stick, the boys here'll tell
you that I'm good FIR all you kin
win. You kin go up against that box
o. your'n first, Mr.. Ferrand dealin'
'em jest like you deal 'em yourself
"Ferrand had already seated him
self in the dealers chair and was
looking at the under part of the box
and smiling sardonically. He knew
the combination all right.
"Keating saw that he'd have to
make four-hush TO show that his
game had been on the level. and he
knew perfectly well, too, that IL he
refused to back his own game with
his own money he'd stand to get n
worse dose than he otherwise would.
So he put on an air of bravado and
bought thousand dollars worth of
chips out of the money Farrand had
restored to him-the whole Heating
bank roll.
"Farrand wore n face of iron for
two hours while he dished 'em out
of that box, and at the end of that
time he had $4,000 of Keating's bank
roll. He was shutting the cards for
another deal, when H6nI Curtis, who
had been leaning on the table with
his chin on his hands watching the
dexterity with which Farrand manip-
ulated the cinch box, broke in:
"'That'll be about nll o. the game
of bank said he, addressing Heating,
who had been keeping his nerve up
with whisky. Now, Wen see eff you
can't do better with the marble. /
sure do like this yere gambling bust
ness when I'm baclin' It myself and
not tryin' to buck IL from the wrong
side of the layout. Cole, shoot the
pea FIR the ombrey and give him a
chance to git some o. that roll o.
his'n back
"Farrandcrossedo over TO the wheel,
and he knew just where to look for
the controlling mechanism of it.
Heating, partly drunk and sullen by
this time, bought yellows for thou
sand. and he began.
"Farrand now had IL In his glove
to make the showing strong, and he
did not permit the sure-thinger to
cop out one single, solitary bet from
the beginning of the play until Keat.
ing was all in with his remaining
$4,000.
mot n man had stirred from the
room during the entire play, and
when Heating scattered his last
stack all over the table and Far
rand whizzed the wheel for the last
time 1t was close onto morning.
"'Uh-huh.' said Curtis, when Keat.
ing, with a very challSy countenance
wheeled around after making his last
play. Thatll about do, seein' az
you're all in, like you expected this
ypEp NuhlP 4nOJhNc uu ne Dy TIE
time you got through n-dealing out
what you might call homeless bank
and no-savvy wheel. Now, you're
a'goin' travelin', it bein' the unani
nous idee o. this yere settlement
that you're a whole lot too fly peo-
pie f'r quiet, law-abidin' commu.
nifty.
"You go up on the limited that's
due yere at eight o'clock, and you
never come a-hilSin' back to Mojave
no more unless you're lookin' for the
kind o. tattooin' that bores all the
way through the human frame
Here's $500 in case you git thirsty
tween yere and Frisco, and Mo.
jave1l take keer of the rest o. the
roll. That'll be about ALL"
! "Keating was marched aboard the
limited when the up-bound Santa Fe
train came in on time at Sis that
morning, and Honk Curtis, after fix.
ing Farrand out right for his work
in dealing sure-thing stuff, spent
the rest of the day dishing out to
the losers at Keating's game the
amounts they had lost, according to
their recollection of IL.
"Honk spent the remainder of the