Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-10-31

ed unreasoning rage. Stepping for
ward, he seized the foremost man and
spun him about violently.
"Where are you goingw
"Why, nobody wants to dance, so
we thought we'd go out front for
bit"
"Gct back. all of your It 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, howev-
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 man
was not Of ice. as some supposed. He
turned to her and snid, do you mean
what you said upstairs"
II don't understand"
"You said you could kill Glenister"
81 could"
Don't you love-
81 hate him." she interrupted hoarse-
ly. lie gave her mlrthly smile and,
spying the crap dealer leaving his
bankrupt table, called him over and
said:
"1oby, want you to drive the
hcarsc when Glenister begins to play
faro. I'll deal. Understand
"Sure! Going to give him a little
work CHI"
II 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. II you
miss the signs you'll queer us both and
put the house on the blink"
He rapidly rehearsed his signals in
jargon which to laymnn would have
been unintelliglble, illustrating them
by certain almost imperceptible shift
ings of the fingers or changes In the
position OF his hand SO slight MS 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 "hcarse 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, or
Chinese adding machine When card
Is removed from the faro box by the
dealer, the 'hearsc driver" moves n
button opposite n corresponding card
on his little machine, in order that the
players at Il 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 farest 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
unsuspectng These are so carefully
masked that mono but the initiated may
know them. while the freemasonry Of
the craft is strong and discovery I'M
usual
Instead of using n familiar arrange
ment like the ''needlc-tell," wherein an
Invisible needle prcks the dealers
thumb thus signaling the presence Of
certain cards, the Bronco Kid had de-
terlnincd to use the sand tell" In
other words, lie would employ a
straight box" but Il deck of cards,
certain ones of which had been rough
ened or sandpapered slightlyo so that,
by pressing more heavily on the top
or exposed card. the one beneath would
stick to its relghbor above and thus
enable him to deal two with one mo-
ton II the occasion demanded This
rouchuess would likewise enable him
to detect the hidden presence of a
mark cd card by the iaintest scratching
sound when he dealt In this manipu-
lation it would be necessary also to
shave the edges Of some Of the paste
boards a tTif.e. 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 baffle discovery
and rob the game Of its uncertainty as
surely as the player is robbed of his
money. II 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
Mt 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 Glenister,
but could not get near him because OF
the crowd. The men would not mako
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 1t 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 Glenlster was
a -