Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-30
much loss preciri,atcly than he had

lay. no produced bottle OF whisky
and sufficient number of glasses FOR
all. and spread them out on the bar,
and all, with the exception noted,
stepped forward promptly. MIR. Bias
sett. however. raised his voice.
II aint cwine to drink with no"
he said. aud went on with Il bunch
of language that would not appear
! sccmly in print.
ETIoUEITE OF OCCASION
/ OBSERVED BI MAJORITY
Although he did not specifically state
! that he was charaCtcriz;uE the one
. eyed man. all understood that he in
/ tended his words to apply to no one
! else. and that the refusal 10 drink with
4 him was prompted solely by the desire
TO subject him to the last and most
| supreme indignity that could be Of
/ fercd As for the others in the room.
! they were content tor the moment to
/ observe the etiquette Of the occasion
/ ana they poured on; their drinks.
THAT thar" said the old man calmly
when Bassctt had finished, 'is mat
ter 70 yo' all an one Eye to settle
among yo' two. Yo' all's drink IL done
hccn Sc; out. an it'll have to he paid
TO, whether yo' takes il or not" And
he looked intcntly at the onc-eYed man,
as If TO make surc that tGlis last state
ment was Thoroughly understood.
As for tina; gentleman. he remained,
to NIL appearance, entirely indifferent
to minor matters. Not even Bassetts
deadly insult shook his composure. 1t
was rs il having determined for rca-
sons OF his own to put himself in
position in which his personal safety
was no longer to he taken into account
no other consideration Appealed to him,
Why he had done II no one but him
self understood. and the mystery was
never thereafter cleared up. but tho
l.,l t.-F l..
SO infatuated by the pursuit of gam
bling as profession that he had
staked his life IN the venture for the
pure love OF excitement without tho
hope OF any adequate winning to be
made In any event.
Some inkl!ng OF this came to Jim
ElaiSdell. as he noted the impressive
deneanor Of the MAJ he hated with no
less intensity than did the others and
being himself OF somewhat similar
disposition. he was irresistibly ,m1elled
to EXPRESS his admiration of One Ewes
dauntless bearing.
"fo' all sho' Is kin TO the devil" he
said. knowing no higher compliment
10 offer Md the others solitary OPTIC
gienmed with appreciation of his foes
tribute.
Il reckon If me an yo' was to travel
an set III together" he said, thought
fully, they wouldn't nobody be liable
70 to get away with n hellova lot. !
ha'n't never had no side pardner, helm
| never knowed nobody afo' what
played no kynd OF game wuth
c'nsidrin' But ef yo' all d keer about
takin' a flyer l dunno bur what I'd
take II chanst"
reckon tn amt nothin' yo' all
wouldn't take" replied Blaisdell.
p'ridin 'twa'n't rallied down"
bLAIsDELL INTERESTED
IN OTHERS PROPOSAL,
The words implied Indifference. and
he strore 10 make his tone correspond
TO them. but there was no one present
so ignorant of the methods OF draw
poker ms 20 fail to SEQ that no was a,
east interested In tho tentative pro-
posal And they perceived n neyr n.r;,
IN the presence OF the most dangerous
person In the mississippi Valley. Nor
one IN the room failed to renamha-
mat Blaisdell's wonderful skill with
C"THS was at least one OF the main
,~['ors OF Arkansas City prosperity.
ana more especially OF the success ~
oia man Greenlaw's business.
They had always counted. nor wiz,
OUT reason, on Blaisdens good fai,h
toWara them. Too shrewd a man ~
IN counter 10 his own interests IN,
"9"o!e crossing his associates. n. had
ways played fair so far as thav
80 ",H' "Ut there could be no
HouoI despite his words, that the nros0
prc' OF an alliance with the ONLY 49,
WI" was ms peer at the poker ,ahIa
h!4urins 10 him. And thar ouo
sense was too highly deyelonoa
'oI 'hem to fail to perceive Il.
more MI. Owen Pepper muir
nNred 10 hirDself. "oh, I don't ~
ina he chuckied inwardlv Wien
!c!ous slee win ma
reckon tn amt no call f..
!ay the p'ceed!ns no mo, nov. 20
NE-hAs Is paid TO-" said the ola 49,,
80 "e PICKED up his bunrstart
"s"ih ana came around to the froc,
me par less suddenly than he Ma
one before, but with a ouick s,nn
-''a considerable Are In his eve.
~ .A as ne was. however. h. was
ne way he had evidently intsnGsa -.
20 "hen he started. AIr. Basset, bsj
lea, him to it "'-o
win roar or rage that sa.,,ea =.
snake he room that gentleman bsd
op' u'is forward, reaching out for ~
man as If to grapple him In
deadly embrace. And W.nterbo,.o
ana fearsall had both produced ayn-
.ns. DIT. Wtnterbottom taking =,
~, ashionec derringer from his vcsf
POCKET and Mr.. Pearsall re,chf,.
heavy revolver from somewhere .,
rear ,hr. Pepper looked on as II vii
pieased at the prospect but Mr.. RIa.s.
de!f withdrew himself slightly ana 49,
sumed an air Of abstraction. The 49,
o.!en seen him look thus when con
s'oerlhs whether TO call, raise or Ia,
down. W lay
MOVES QUICKLY, nUT
oNE-EYE Is QUICKER
mr. Bassett had only r few fee, ~
go ana he moved with rc.DarEahio
hsihty, considering the size Of bi,n
hut when he arrived at the spot WIZ
~ ohe,eyed man vas standing the
"e-cycd man was elsewhere
some eight feet away was ano,hA-
spot from which he could much moro
conveniently leap through windoy
mat was partly open, than he cou,5
from his station by the bar and Nv
Ntihz'ng this as halfway station ha
hhsented h'mself in two Jumps. seem
lhf!y unconcerned by the fact ina, tho
window sash was incidentally spotInd
! "as perfectly apparent that ne had
geo his mind as TO the advisa b.l!tv