The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-08

| Guy VoOu8n Ms IrtenO0 po10 no 0ttontlOn
to his we'll meant endeavor the events Of
the game had been sufficient to arouse
them to the necessity Of making some
special effort. and In consequence 0ros-
jean waa not the only one who watched
blaisdell carefully. No one saw anything
that indicated tho occurrence Of unusual
events. unless II was that for the first time
on record he made q mistake in dealing.
II was 30 trifing mistake. however, and
20 obviously devoid Of any possible conse-
quences u any sort, that no one felt called
on to speak about Il. And II was rcctifed
90 quickly that only one man at the table
paid any attention to It. The one man
was Grosjean.
The mistake. II II could be called that.
consisted Of partly separating another
card from the deck after he had concluded
the deal. a. II he were going on TO serve
another round. Catching himself in
SANITY he stopped before the card was
entirely separated: and replacing it 30
quickly that the false movement was only
barely discernible. he laid the deck down
In its proper place on the table and lifting
his own hand awaited the play.
BY long practice 0rosjean had attained
a proficiency In the use Of his eyes that
was not less than Blaisdells digital dex-
terity. and even no slight mismovement
as the one described failed to escape his
notice. II seemed impossible for any one
to be able to read the face Of card that
was only partially exposed and for 80 In
finitssimally short period Of time a. that
ono had been. but Grosiean could do the
seemingly impossible with his eyes and he
caught sight Of 1t plainly enough to know
positively that IL was n red ace.
As u matter OF course II was likely 10
he ~ great Importance to him TO know
what the card was. seeing that II would
come to him in the draw II he should call
for any, and the natural thought came to
him that Blaisdell had laid trap for him,
had Intentionally given him an oppor-
tunity TO see the card in order to induce
him to stay in and had 80 stacked the
cards "a to insure his defeat In case OF his
doing SO. Taking advantage u his privi-
lege in the matter he took time enough TO
study this important question before de-
Gliding what to do when his turn came to
play. And no one attempted to hurry
him In the least.
Being a. wary az he was he strongly
suspected At first that BlaisdelI had
actually done that very thing. but for
more than one reason he was disposed to
think on consideration that that was not
the case. In tho first place. he argued. IL
Blaisdell had really intended that he
should see the card he would have given
him better chance to see 1t. for Gros jean.
though he knew beyond a question that it
was a red ace. knew also that there was
hardly any one else who could have read
the card without a better opportunity
than he had had to see it.
This was a strong argument. but II was
not all. He was morally certain that
Blaisdell had not stacked the cards in
shufiing them, but As an extra precau-
ton he had rifiied the deck himself before
the deal. as he had u right to do. and
Blaisdell had not exercised his right to
shuttle last. There remained. therefore,
only one possibility. which was that
BlaisdelI had clcverly substituted another
deck already stacked for the one he had
shuflled at the moment of picking it up
after the cut.
:, Even that. Grosjean knew. was thing
chat might be done by 20 skilful dealer.
and though he had not seen 1t and was
therefore inclined to doubt itlhe was still
suspicious until hs looked at the hand
which had been dealt TO him and found
positive assurance that his suspicion was
groundlees
Had he held aces up or even three aces.
he would have felt certain that there was
a trick and that some one else would have
q hand to beat even four aces, hut he saw
| ~ 81
his hand invincible. for he held before the
draw the king. queen. jack and ten Of dia-
Inonds and the ace of hearts. By drawing
q single card therefore he would al hand
that could not be beaten. and he knew that
the card that lay on the top Of the deck
was the one he wanted.
I still he hesitated. II seemed incredible
that the browning miracle Of luck should
have come to him and he went over the
whole argument again in his mind before
/ playing. Not only could he see no flaw in
it but he could See that no flaw could
possibly exist II Blaisdell had intended
| u trap he must have overreaohed himself
| for with that other red ace in his hand he
could not loes And therefore no played
boldly.
! Not for an instant did ne suffer the top
/ card Of the deck that lay AZ his right elbow
to escape his constant watchfulness. but
he raised the pot. reraised and was
raised again till the pile in the middle
Of the table grew TO huge proper
tions and the largest single winning Of
/ his whole career lay within his sight Re-
joicing greatly that he had found confident
adversaries at the moment when luck had
provided him with an unbeatable hand
he closed the pot finally with the last dollar
he had and called for one card.
| Blaisdell dealt II to him and 1t was the
jack Of spades This. however, he did
not perceive immediately. for he let It lie
/ face down. where IL fell. while he waited
TO see what tho others would do. Having
tho ago he had. OF course, the last say and
though he could do no more than claim u
show for what was already in the pot.
having no more TO bet, he was minded
to amuse himself by looking to see what
Winterbottom and Pearsall would do.
they having stayed with him to the finish
He had not announced that he was all In,
and so far a. they knew he was prepared
TO play on indefinitely. for they were