The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1908-02-03
TheSpoilers.
ny REX E. BEACH.
Copyright 1905, by Rex n Beach.
(Continued from last issue.)

The musicians, grown tired or their
endeavors TO lure back the dancers,
determined TO join the excitement and
ceased playing. The leader laid down
his violin, the pianist trailed mp the key
board with a 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 unreasonlng rage. Stepping for
ward. he seized the foremost man and
spun him about violently.
"Where are you goingf"
why. nobody wants 70 dance. SO
we thought we'd 90 out front for a
bit"
Get back. all of your' II was his
first chance to vent the passion within
him. A glance at his mdddened 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. hut from her brief glimpse
Cherry MalDtte 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 Glenlster."
81 could"
"non't Won loyp"-
Il hate him" she interrupted hoarse-
~. lie gave her lhirthly smile and
spying the crap dealer leaving his
bankrupt table, called him over and
said:
"Toby. want yous to drive the
hcarse when Glenister begins to play
faro. I'll deal. Understand 2"
"sure, Going to give him little
work eh?'
II never dealt a crooked card T. this
camp" exclaimed the Kid "but I'll
lay that man tonight or I'll kill him
I'll use n 'sand-tell,' see? And ] want
10 explain my signals TO you. II you
miss the signs you'll queer us both and
put the house on the blink"
He rapidly reliearsed his signals IL Il
jargon which to layman would have
been unintelllglble. illustrating them
by certain almost imperceptible shift
ings OF the fingers or changes in the
position of his hand SO slight rs 10
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 "hearse driver" was the man
who kept the cases; knew all the code
of the INSIDE life" To her II was all
as an open page. and she memQrized
more quickly than did Toby the signs
by which the Bronco Kid proposed TO
signal what card he had smuggled
from the box or held back
In faro II 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 card
Is removed from the faro box by the
dealer, the "hearse driver" moves n
button opposite corresponding card
on his little machine. in order that the
players at 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 fairest 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
unsuspecting. These are so carefully