Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-09-26
BY REX e. BEACH.

Cherry Malotte knew that this man
was not of ice, as some supposed. He
turned to her and said "Do you mean
what you said upstairs 7"
81 don't understand"
you said you could kill Glenister."
al could"
Don't you love-
81 hate him." she interrupted hoarse-
~. He gave her mirthly smile and,
spying the crap dealer leaving his
bankrupt table. called him over and
said.
Toby, l want you to drive the
hearse when Glenister begins to play
faro. I'll deal Understand %
Sure! Going TO give him little
work eh?''
Il never dealt crooked card in this
camp" exclaimed the Kid, "but I'll
lay that man tonight or I'll kill him!
I'll use a 'sand-tell' see? And want
to explain my signals to you. If you
miss the signs you'll queer us both and
put the house on the blink"
He rapidly rehearsed his signals in a
jargon which to layman would have
been uninteIliglble, illustrating them
by certain almost imperceptible shift
ings of the fingers or changes in the
position of his hand so slight as to
thwart discovery. Through it all the
girl stood by and followed his every
word and motion with eager attention.
She needed no explanation of the terms
they used She knew them all; knew
that the "hearse driver" was the man
who kept the cases; knew all the code
Of the INSIDE life" To her it was all
as an open page, and she memorized
more quickly than did Toby the signs
by which the Bronco Kid proposed to
signal what card he had struggled
from the box or held back
In faro it is customary for the case
keeper to sit on the opposite side of the
table from the dealer, with device
before him resembling an abacus, OF
Chinese adding machine When caro-
Is removed from the faro box by the
dealer. the ''hearse driver" moves a
button opposite a corresponding card
on his little machine, In order that the
players at glance may tell what
spots have been played or are still in
the box. His duties, though simple,
are important, for should he make an
error and should the position of his
counters not tally with the cards in the
box on the last turn" all bets on the
table are declared void When honest
" dealt, faro is the fairest of all
gambling games, but it is intricate and
may hide much knavery. When the
game is crooked it is fatal, for out of
the ingenuity of generations of card
sharks there have been evolved multi
tude of devices with which to fleece the
unsuspecting. These are so carefully
masked that none but the initiated may
know them, while the freemasonry of
the craft is strong and discovery I'M
usual.
Instead of using familiar arrange
ment like the 'needle-tell," wherein an
Invisible needle pricks the dealers
thumb, thus signaling the presence of
certain cards, the Bronco Kid had de-
termined to use the "sand-tell." In
other words, he would employ a
straight box" but deck of cards.
certain ones Of which had been rough
ened or sandpapered slightly, so that,
by pressing more heavily on the top
or exposed card, the one beneath would
stick to It's neighbor above and thus
enable him to deal two with one mo-
tien If the occasion demanded. This
ronghness would likewise enable him
to detect the hidden presence Of a
marked card by the faintest scratching
sound when he dealt In this manipu-
lation it would be necessary also to
shave the edges of some of the paste
boards trifie, SO that when the deck
was forced firmly against one side of the
box there would be exposed a fraction
of the small figure in the left hand
corner of the concealed cards. Long
practice in the art of jugglery lends
such proficiency as to battle discovery
and rob the game of its uncertainty as
surely as the player is robbed of his
money. It is, of course. vital that the
confederate case keeper be able to in
terpret the dealers signs perfectly in
order to move the sliding ebony disks
TO correspond, else trouble will accrue
at the completion Of the hand when
the cases come out wrong.
Having completed his Instructions
the proprietor went forward, and Cher
~ wormed her way toward the roulette
wheel She wished to watch Gienister,
but could not get near him because Of
the crowd. The men would not make
room for her. Every eye was glued
upon the table as though salvation
lurked In its rows of red and black.
They were packed behind it until the
croupier had barely room to spin the
ball, and although he forced them back,
they pressed forward again inch by
inch, drawn by the song Of the ivory,
drunk with its worship, maddened by
the breath of Chance.
Cherry gathered that Glenister was