Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-06
PLAYED OUT . BY Leo Crane

pain. He breathed as though he might
have covered miles.
My Gawd"' he whispered, his lips quiv-
ering. A moment more and he would have
faced the wilderness, snow-barred, Ice
sheathed like Prometheus blowing on a
brand. When these foolish sensations were
past High Card Baldwin laughed in a little
high-ptched tone. He wrapped the box
in piece of blanket and tucked it away in
his pack. He took from it only one match
at time His operations in this way were
painfully deliberate and precise. He revered
| the matches, loving them when it was pos
sible not to fear them. They We're his
genii his gods.
One night when the stars were calmly
critical and the whole world was touched
with an enchanted peace, High Card made
his lone camp on the sheltered side of a
ridge and at no great distance from the
summit. The opposite ground dropped away
| into the valley which he had that day
crossed. He contemplated his fire and
| smoked a pipe. He was about to roll into
the blankets when a nearby cracke caused
him to start. Some four or five deer had
slipped up through the underground and
were staring in blank wonderment at his
fire. At his first movement they went over
the ridge, making little frightened leaps.
High Card caught up his rifle quickly and
scrambled after them.
I'll have a steak he said with determi-
nation, drawing back the hammer of the
gun A few seconds later he had parted
the damp branches of the thicket which
fringed the summit An exclamation came
from his lips, and, as if his hands had been
| relieved of all power, he allowed the wet
branches to whip back across his face.
Venison was now gone from his mind
Caught by Gawd!' he said aloud. his
mouth and tongue becoming dry as a bone
He stood for long time gazing across the
valley. where a faint sparkle peeped from
the folds of the hills. 1t was a fire. The
pursuer had caught up with him.
In
High Card knew the gold of his first stake
and when the cards were high enough to
bestow on him a name, he had gambled
desperately He knew the worth of gold
only by the sensation it caused when a big
bet swung on single turn. He had sat
upon both sides of the table Of fortune,
beside her and facing her. He had seen his
pile disappear in a single cycle of play, the
gold. precious and beautiful, deserving his
side of the board, like a false mistress, and
crossing the table to mock him In the abyss.
On that last night, when he had been beg
CARED, a certain look settled as though it
were a mask upon his face, rendering the
features hard, adamant. criminal. mat
night decided the utmost length to which
he would go for gold. Gold, though it had
tricked him, beaten him, starved him, de-
serted him. was, after all, his goddess. The
falsity of the deity proved only the fanat-
cism of the devotee. And such an express
sion swept across his features again as he
stood this night upon the summit of the
ridge and looked across the valley toward
the second player. Once again the stakes
We're high and the turn against him.
An old, old dread caught him in its cruel
talons. He remembered a man, a certain
old man. The guilty are ever mindful of
their sins first and the chance of happening
comes after in its turn. The gambler grip
ped his hands and fought back his mo-
mentary cpwardice.
by the living Gawdr' he cried out trem-
ulously, "I'll share my finds with no man.
It's my gold mine, mine And you want
your share? Well, follow me. I'll lead you
dance you meddler-you-"
For the next three days High Card Bald
win endeavored to lead this follower astray
High Card made off to the right, into the
wild, untrammeled hills. He did not hest
tate. He was willing to tread the danger
Gus edge of a precipice that another might
slip over it. The thickets We're now denser,
the defiles more rugged, the way steep 1t
was severe detour, but he kept on, grit
ting his teeth against his every hardship.
He knew that across country, distant, per-
haps five terrible uncharted miles, opened
several very deceptive passes through the
range. 1t was his plan to confuse the
tracker at this point, circle about and pick
up his original bearing.
Then the burro went lame.
"A misdeal,' growled High Card Baldwin
Four hours later the little beast slipped
over a fallen and snow-mantled tree When
the burro refused to rise and go on the inn
petuosity of the man received severe chill
He examined the burro's ailment, a definite
fear In his heart.
"a broken Leg" said the gambler con-
templating the disaster YEARLY. Was
there ever such devil of a hand to play?
Mickey, you're out O this game, little beg
gar, an may be good job for you, too.
I'll have to play it alone"
There was a gunshot.
A little later High Card Baldwin began