The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-08-27
The Spoilers.
By REX e. BEACH.
- copxrteht. 1905. by E.
BY REX E. BEACH.
(continued.)

few moments and surrounded her,
Glenister among the others. He was
not the man she knew. In place of
the dreary hopelessness with which he
had left her, his face was flushed and
reckless, his collar was open, showing
the base Of his great, corded neck, |
while the lust Of the game had coars-
ened him till he was again the violent,
untamed, primitive man Of the frontier.
His selfstraint and dignity were gone
He had tried the new ways, and they
were not for him. He slipped back,
and the past swallowed him.
After leaving Cherry he had sought
some mental relief by idly risking the
silver in his pocket. He had let the
coins lie and double, then double again
and again. He had been Indifferent
whether he won or lost, so assumed q
reckless disregard for the laws Of prob
ability. thinking that he would shortly
lose the money he had won and then
go home. He did not want it. When
his luck remained the same, he raised
the stakes, but it did not change-hs
could not lose. Before he realized it,
other men were betting with him, AMI
mated purely by greed and craze of
the sport. First one then another
Joined till game after game was closed,
and each. moment the crowd had grown
In size and enthusiasm so that it's fever
crept into him, imperceptibly at first,
but ever increasing, till the mania mas
tered him.
He paid no attention to Cherry as he
took his seat. He had eyes for moth
ing but the layout" She cllnched her
hands and prayed for his ruin.
whats your limit, KidT' he In
quired.
zone hundred and two" the Kid an
gwered, which in the vernacular means
that any sum up to $500 may be laid
on one card save only on the last turn,
when the amount is lessened by half
Without more ado they commenced.
The Kid handled his cards smoothly.
surely, paying and taking bets with
machine-like calm. The onlookers
ceased talking and prepared to watch,
for now came the crucial test of the
evening. Faro is to other games as
war IS to jackstraws.
For a time Glenister won steadily tin
there came a moment when many
stacks of chips lay on the deuce. Cher
ry saw the Kid clash to the case
keeper, and the next moment he had
pulled two" TIE deuce lost. 1t was
his first substantial gain, and the play
ers paid no attention. At the end Of
half an hour the winnings were slight
" III favor of the 'house." Then
Glenister said: ''ThiS is too slow.
want action"
"All right" smiled the proprietor
"WeHl double the limit
Thus it became possible to wager
800 on a card, and the Kid began real
ly to play. Glenister now lost steadily,
not In large amounts, but with tan
TALKING regularity. Cherry had never
seen cards played like this. The gam
bier was a revelation to her. His work
was wonderful Ill luck seemed to fan
the crowds eagerness, while, to add to
It's Impotence, the cases came wrong
twice in succession, so that those who
would have bet heavily upon the last
turn had their money given back.
Cherry saw the confusion of the
"hearse driver" even quicker than did
Bronco. Toby was growing ratified.
The dealers work was too fast for
him, and yet he could offer no signal
of distress for fear of humiliation at
the hands of those crowded close to his
shoulder. In the same way the owner
of the game could make no objection
to his helpers incompetence for fear
that some bystander would volunteer
to eli the mans part. There were
90 oN+ bn
could only glare balefully across the
table at his unfortunate confederate.
They had not gone far on the next
game before Cherry's quick eye de-
tected a sign which the man misinter-
preted. She addressed him quietly,
You'd better brush up your plumes."
IN spite of his anger the Bronco Kid
smiled. Humor in him was strangely
withered and distorted, yet here was a
thrust he would always remember and
recount with glee in years to come.
He feared there were other faro deal
ers present who might understand the
hint but there was none save Mexico
Mullins. whose face was q study
mirth seemed to be strangling him. 4
moment later the girl spoke TO the case
keeper again.
Let me take your place; your reins
are unbuckled."
Toby glanced iRquiringly at the Kid
who caught Cherry's reassuring loob
and nodded, so he arose and the CIR
slid into the vacant chair. This wo
man would make no errors, the dealer
knew that; her keen wits were sharp
ened by hi cit showed in her face
If Glenister escaped destruction to
night it would be because human
means could not accomplish his down
fall
In the mind of the new case keeper
there was but one thought-Roy must
be broken. Humiliation, disgrace. ruin
ridicnla wore 10 ha his IL he Shnulf