Evening star., 1909-09-12

| Pete caught me looking at IT, lie DeckOned
| one of the servlngmen with nod and directed
him to fetch the piece of jade for to examine.
| 1t was the piece you lummoxes have been 50
inquisitive about.
"'You ke?' inquired Little Pete. falling
! into another abbreviated Chink phrase as |
| examined the carving of the jade.
| "'Who wouldn't like?' | asked him, setting
| the jade piece down.
/ "'He is yours said Little Pete, waving his
clawlike little yellow hand toward the piece of
| jade
Il said nothing. / knew thered be some
| thing popping to explain it all soon, and
willing to wait, because the dinner was in a class
| by itself, and because lot OF other things.
/ "At the coffee Little Pete said something to
| the head servingman, who went out, presently
| returning with an oblong box of carved ivory
about SIX inches in height. Little Pete opened
| this and took from it an ivory affair of about
| the shape and size of an ostrich egg. This he
unscrewed in the middle and took from it an
| other egg of slightly smaller size. There were
/ eight of these middle threaded ivory eggs one
| within the other, and when Little Pete got
| down to the last one he leaned over tow ard me
/ as he unscrewed it.
| He took off the top half of this little ivory
| egg. and there, under the flare of light. and
nesting in dab of snowy fleece. was the biggest
| pigeons blood ruby | ever had peek at. 1t
was aflame with ridescent fire so that it seemed
| almost to be squirming in its nest OF fleece. |
couldn't hold in an exclamation.
Like him?' Little Pete asked me. looking
| up with his slow spreading grin.
| "'Ask me if like blue skies. sunlight, flowers,
and such like. said l. maybe a little ornate un-
| der the glow of the wine.
"'Yours, them said Little Pete, and he
| screwed all the eggs together one within the
| other, placed the big egg in the oblong ivory
box. and stood it alongside my plate.
| THAT'S when pushed my plate back l
don't like to have to wait too long for the
answer to puzzle.
| - What for! asked him. why miner Let
me in on this What for?'
Little Pete leaned back in his chair, lit
cigarette, blew few eddies of smoke at the
ceiling, studied me furtively before beginning,
and then said in a matter of fact tone:
| - Is this Mazatlan SO good them
| "' How should | know?' | asked him.
| That appeared to puzzle him bit; but he
went ahead, 'Mazatan could lose, couldn't he?'
| You've got me out on the limb again. Pete,
said |. Any nag can lose, of course. Any nag
opinion of this Mazatlan skate? l never even
| saw him.
"He gave distinct start at that Then he
leaned forward in his chair and eyed me keenly.
Never saw your own horse?' he said to me, and
there was hoarseness in his voice that hadn't
noticed before. You make joke, them
"My horse! said l. Quit your fooling,
good host don't own hair of Mazatlan S tail.
Don't own any kind of a race horse Never
owned one in my life. Where did you get that?'
"'You are Clint Blank?' said Little Pete,
leaning still farther forward in his chair as he
named the man the house detective of the
Palace had mentioned to me as being the
owner of the horse Mazatlan.
- Not any; not none, l rebated right back:
for the thing pretty pellucid to me by that
time / understood why Little Pete was for
loading with gifts of wives and rubies and
jade carvings and things. I'm Turk O'Fallon,
student of men, cities, and money; though,
speaking of the latter, Pm oftener broke than
not Pretty comfortably broke now, for the
matter of that Not SO much broke. though.
that I'd be accepting lift from Chinaman
who for thing mistakes me for somebody
else
A Ii Cinnamon game losers. Little Pete
knew all about his mistake before the
words were half out of my mouth. He smii-
ingly offered a cigarette and then leaned
comfortably back in his chair. Whatever NOR
tifcation he felt he swallowed We chatted for
a little while longer 1t all weaved through my
mind chatted. Somebody had pointed
me out to Little Pete in the Palace lobby as
Mazatlans owner, or, in the pointing out, Little
Pete's eye had caught the wrong man. that
same being me. He was used to bribing owners
of race horses to channel affairs his way He
wanted to make bumper bet some other
horse in the big stake of the morrow, and
he wanted to have the owner of Mazatlan fixed
first. And. having been fooled, or having
fooled himself he had made his overtures to the