Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1902-06-05

next train after he puts down his
last check
"Keating wasn't 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. e.
"I amt a-goin',, Curtis went on,
never dropping his guns quarter of
an inch for second, to take an un-
due advantage of you, son, but you're
a-goin' to git egsactly the same kind
of 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 we'll 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
stepped over to the table and ran
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
game had been on the level, and he
knew perfectly we'll, too, that if he
refused to back his own game with
his own money he'd stand to get
worse dose than he otherwise would.
So he put on an air of bravado and
IL
chips out of the money Farrand had
restored to him-the whole Heating
bank roll.
"Farrand wore a lace 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 Honk 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 all O. the game
of bank said he, addressing Heating,
who had been keeping his nerve up
with whisky. Now, We'll see eff you
can't do better with the marble. I
sure do like this yere gambling bust
ness when I'm backin' it myself and
not tryin' to buck it 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 it 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.
Not 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 it was close onto morning.
"'Uh-huh,' said Curtis, when Keat-
ing, with very chalky countenance,
wheeled around after making his last
play. That'll about do, SEEM as
you're all in, like you expected this
yere camp O. Mojave 'ud be by the
time you got through a-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 FIR a quiet, law-abidin' commu-
nifty.
"You go up on the limited that's
due yere at eight o'clock, and you
never come a-hikin' 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, AMI Mo-
jave'l 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 S:15 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