Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1907-12-06

MN Tor life.
There are plenty of Ills sort here, y
the girl remarked. His soul would fit
In flea track" She spied the Bronco
Kid sauntering back toward her and
Joined him. He leaned against the
wall. watching the gossamer thread of
smoke twist upward from his ciga-
rette. seemingly oblivious to the sur
roundings and showing no hint Of the
emotion he had displayed two hours
before.
This is big killing, isn't it?' said
the girl.
The gambler nodded, murlnuring in
differently.
why aren't you dealing bank? Isn't
this your sliift?'
Il quit last night
"Just In time to miss this affair.
Lucky for you.''
Yes; ! own the place now. Bought
it yesterday
Good heavens! Then It's your mon
ey he's winningv'
Sure. at the rate of thousand n
minute
She glanced Mt the long trail Of dew
astated tables behind Glenister and
his followers. At that instant the
sound told that the miner had won
again, and 1t dawned upon Cherry that
the gambler beside her stood too quiet
ly, that his hand and voice were too
steady, his glance too cold to be nat
ural. The next moment approved her
instinct.
The musicians, grown tired of their
endeayors to lure back the dancers.
determined to Join the excitement and
ceased playing. The leader laid down
his violin, the pianist tralled up the key
board with departing twitter and
quit his stool. They all crossed the
hall. headed for the crowd, some OF
them making ready to bet. As they
the Bronco Kid, his lips
thinned and slid apart slightly, while
out of his heavy lidded eyes there far
ed unreasoning rage. Stepping for
ward. he seized the foremost man and
spun him about violently.
Where are you going?'
why. nobody wants to dance, so
we thought we'd go out front for
bit"
Get back, all of your 1t was his
first chance to vent the passion within
him. A glance at his maddened fea.
lures was sufficient for the, musicians.
and they did not delay. BY the time
they had resumed their duties. howcv-
er. the curtains of composure had
closed upon the Kid. masking his emo
ton again. but from her brief glimpse.
Cherry Malotte knew that this nan
was not of ice. as some supposed. He
turned to her and said. "Do you mean
what you said upstairs? ~
II don't understand"
'You said you could kill Glenister."
II could"
Don't you love-
II hate him." she interrupted hoarse-
y. He gave her n mirthly smile and.
spying the crap dealer leaving his
bankrupt table, called him over and
said: n.
Toby. I want you to drive the
hearse when Glenister begins to play
faro. I'll deal. Understand I"
"Sure! Going to give him little
work, eh?''
II never dealt crooked card IL this
camp" exclaimed the Kid. "but III
lay that man tonight or I'll kill him.
I'll use .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 n
jargon which to a layman would have
been unintelliglble, Illustrating them
by certain almost imperceptible shift
ings of the fingers or changes in the
position Of Ills hand SO slight as to
thwart discovery. Through 1t all the
girl stood by md followed his every
word and motion with eager attention.
She needed no explanation of the terms
they used. She knew them all; knew
TINT the "hearse driver" was the man
who kept the cases: knew all the code
Of the INSIDE life" To her 1t was all
rs nm open page, and she memorizcd
more quickly than did Toby the signs
by which the Bronco Kid proposed to
signal what card he had smuggled
from the box or held back.
III faro 1t is customary for the case
keeper to sit on the opposite side of the.
table from the dealer, with n device
before him resembling an abacus, OF
Chinese adding machine. When a card
Is removed from the faro box by the
dealer, the ''hcarse driver moves u
button opposite a corresponding card
OH 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 knayery. When the
game is crooked 1t is fatal, for out of
the ingenuity Of generations Of card
sharks there have been evolved a multi
tude of devices with which to fleece the
These are SO carefully
masked that none but the initiated may
know them, while the freemasonry of
the craft is strong and discovery UNI
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." lii
o4l,a,. ,,.orda Ln ,.a,,lIl or,nio.. n