The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1907-12-27

the girl.
"There he goes now" the little man
cried as the uproar arose. II told you
he'd lose" At the voice OF the multi
tude he wavered as though affected by
some powerful magnet
| "But he won again." said Mexico
mo! Did he? Lord! / quit too
soon!'
He scampered back into the other
room, only to return, hesitating, his
money tightly clutched
| do you s'pose it's safe? never
saw a man bet so reckless. / guess
I'd better quit, ehT He noted the sneer
ON the woman's face, and without wait
ing reply dashed Off again. They
saw him DANGEROUSLY fight his way in
toward post at the roulette table.
Let me through! I've got money, and
l want to play itr'
"Pah!' said Mullins disgustedly.
Hes one of them Vermont despera-
does that never laid bet till he was
thirty. II Glenister loses he'll hate
him for life.'
There are plenty Of his sort here"
| 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 itY' said
the girl.
The gambler nodded, murmuring in
differently.
why aren't you dealing bank? Isn't
this your shift"
II 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 winning!"
Sure, at the rate of a thousand a
| minute
She glanced at 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 it dawned upon Cherry that
the gambler beside her stood tor 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
endeavors TO lure back the dancers,
determined to join the excitement and
ceased playing. The leader laid down
his violin, the pianist trailed 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
approached 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 goingT
"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, howev-
cr, the curtains of composyre 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 said, do you mean
what you said upstairsT'
II don't understand"
You said you could kill Glenister."
81 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, want you to drive the
hearse when Glenister begins to play
faro. I'll DEAL Understand ?"
"Sure! Going to give him little
work. ehT'
II never dealt crooked card II this
Il
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
jargon which to a layman would have
been anintelliglble, 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 1t 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 tho "inside life" To her Il 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 IL Is customary for the case
keeper to sit OF the opposite side Of the
table from the dealer, with a device
before him resembling an abacus. OF