The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-04-03

/ ings u the fingers or changes IN TIE
position 0r his hand 50 slight as TO
thwart discovery. Through Z all the
7 girl stood BY and followed his every
word and motion with eager attention
She needed no explanation OF the ter-iis
they used. She knew them all; knew
that the "hearse driver" was the man
! who kept the cases; knew all the code
OF the INSIDE life" To her II was al
as an open page. and she memOrizcd
more quickly than did Toby the sign
BY which the Bronco Kid proposed 20
signal what card he had smuggled
from the box or held back.
In faro IL Is customary for the case
keeper to sit on the opposite side OF the
table from the dealer. with a device
before him resembling an abacus, OF
Chinese adding machine. When a card
Is removed from me faro box by the
dealer, the ''hearse driver" moves a
button opposite q corresponding card
on his little machine, In order that the
players at a 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
ly dealt, faro Is the fairest Of all
gambling games, but 1t is intricate and
may hide much knavery. When the
game is crooked 1t 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
unsuspecting. These are so carefully
masked that none but the initiated may
know them, while the freemasonry of
the craft is strong and discovery I'M
usual.
Instead Of using a familiar arrange
ment like the 'needle-tell," wherein al
Invisible needle pricks the dealers
thumb, thus signaling the presence of
certain cards, the Bronco Kid had de-
termined to use the 'sand-tell." In
other words, he would employ
straight box" but deck of cards
certain ones Of which had been rough
ened or sandpapered slightly, SO that
by pressing more heavily on the top
or exposed card, the one beneath would
stick to its neighbor above and thus
enable him to deal two with one mo
ton If the occasion demanded. This
roughness would likewise enable him
to detect the hidden presence Of a
marked card by the faintest scratching
sound when he dealt. In this manipu-
lation 1t would be necessary also
shave the edges of some of the paste
boards a trife, so that when the dec
was forced firmly against one side of the
box there would be exposed fraction
Of the small figure in the left hand
corner of the concealed cards. Long
practice In the art of jugglery lend
such proficiency as to battle discover
and rob the game Of it's uncertainty
surely as the player is robbed Of h
money. 1t 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
at the completion Of the hand when
the cases come out wrong
Having completed his instructions
the proprietor went forward, and Cher
nv wormed her way toward the roulette
wheel She wished to watch GlenisteE
but could not get near him because of
the crowd. The men would not make
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 it until the |
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 it's worship, maddened BY |
the breath Of Chance.
Cherry gathered that Glenister was /
still winning, for glimpse of the |
wheel rack between the shoulders Of
those ahead showed that the checks |
were nearly out of it.
Plainly 1t was but question Of min
utes, so she backed out and took her
station beside the faro table where the
Bronco Kid was dealing. His face
wore its colorless mask of Indifference
his long white hands moved SLOWLY |
with the certainty that betokened al
solute mastery of his art. He wa
waiting. The ex-crap dealer was keep
ing cases
The group left the roulette table in
few moments and surrounded her
Glenister among the others. He was
not the man she knew. In place o.
the dreary hopelessness with which he
had left her. his face was flushed an1
reckless, his collar was open, showing
The base of his great, corded neck
while the lust of the game had coars
sned him till he was again the violent
primitive man of the frontier
His selfstraint and dignity were gone
ae had tried the new ways, and they
we're not for him. He slipped back
Ind the past swallowed him.