The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1908-01-12

dealer, the -'nearSe driver moves u
button opposite q 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 I
error and should the position of his +
counters not tally with the cards in the /
box on the last turn" all bets on the t
table are declared void. When honest +
~ dealt, faro is the fairest of all |
gambling games, but it is intricate and
may hide much knayery. When the I
game Is crooked it is fatal, for out OF
the ingenuity of generations of card I
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 an
invisible needle pricks the dealers
thumb, thus signaling the presence of
certain cards, the Bronco Kid had de-
termined to use the ''sand-telI In
other words, he would employ
straight box" but a 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 tn 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
marked card by the faintest 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 trifie, so that when the deck
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 lends
such proficiency as TO .baffie discovery
and rob the game of its uncertainty as
surely as the player is robbed Of his
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 VIII accrue
ut the completion of the hand when
L0e cases COME out WTouS-
Having completed his instructions,
the proprietor went forward, and Cher
~ Wormed her way toward the roulette
| wheel. She wished to watch Glepister.
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
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,
1 drunk with it's worship, maddened by
| the breath of Chance.
Cherry gathered that Glenister was
/ still winning, for a glimpse of the
! wheel rack between the shoulders of
/ those ahead showed that the checks
were nearly out OF it,
Plainly it was but a 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 tie certainty that betokened alb
solute mastery Of his art. lie was
| waiting. The ex-crap dealer was keep
/ ing eases.
The group left the roulette table in a
/ 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
| tho az hic cnpiad nacIy
| while the lust Of the game had coars-
I 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 n
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-he
/ 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 its fever
crept into him. impercepubly ut first
but ever increasing. till the mania mas
tered him.
He paid no attention to Cherry as he
fookshis seat. He had eyes for moth
ing but the Layout" She clinched her
hands and prayed for his ruin.
whats your limit Kid:"s he in
quired
"One hundred and two" the Kid an
swered, which in the yernacular means
that any sum up TO $500 may be laid
on one card save only on the last turn,
when the amount Is 1essened 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