Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-12-15

do that the pile 10 mine a. II stands-'
Beaucaire again wet his lips, staring
ut the uncovered cards In biz hands.
He ccald net lose; with what 10 held
No combination was possible witch
would bsat him. Yet In spite OF this
knowledge tho cold. sneertnG conf
dence Of Kirby brought with Il
strange fear. The man was q profess.
S!onal gambler. What gave him such
recklsssness! why should he he 80
eager to risk such q sum on an In
ferior handf McAfee, sitting next
him. leaned over. managed to gain
swift glimpse at what he held, and
eagerly whispered to him a word OF
encouragement, The Judge straight.
ened up in his chair, grssped a Allied
glass someone had placed at his elbow.
and gulped down the contents. The
whispered words, coupled with the
fiery liquor, gave him fresh courage
by heaven. Kirby, III do itw he
hlurted out. "You can't blur mo on
the hand I've got Give me a>sheet
Of paper. somebody--yes. that will
do"
Ho scrawisd Z half.dosen lines.
fairly digging the pen into the sheet
In his fierce esgerness, and then
signed the document flinginS the pm
per across toward Kirby.
'There, You bloodsucker," ne cried
insolently. us that all rightf WIN
that dor"
The impsrturbable gambler read T.
over slowly, carefully decipherins each
word, his thin lips tightly compressed.
"You might add the words. This in
cludes every ehattel slave legally be-
longing to me-" he said srimly.
"That Is practically what I did say"
"Thsu yen can certainly have no
objection to putting II IN the exact
words choose" calmly. II intend to
have what Is coming to me Il win
and I know the law"
Eeaucaire algrily wrote In the ~
qnlred extra line.
snow whatl" he asked.
1Let McAfee thsrs sign II a. . Wit.
ness and then toss II over into the
pile" He smiled. showing line Of
white teeth beneath his mustache.
"Nice little pot, conference.-the Judge
must hold some cards to take q chance
like that" the words uttered with a
sneer. "Fours, at least, or maybe he
has had the luck to pick q straight
flush"
Besucaire's face redeemed. and his
eyes brew hard.
'.That's my business" he said terse-
~. -Sign II, McAfee, and I'll call this
Growing cockerel. You young fool.
played poker before you were born,
There now. Kirby, rye covered your
bet"
Perhaps you would prefer to raise
itT'
You hsll-hound-nol That is my
limit. and you know II. Don't crawl
now. or do any moro bluflng. Show
your hand-Tve called you"
Kirby sat absolutely motionless. his
cards lying face down upon the table,
the white fingers Of one hand resting
lightly upon them, the other arm con-
cealod. He never once removed hts
gaze from Dsaucairs's face, aud his
expression did not change, except for
the almost insulting sheer ON his lips.
The silence was profound. the deeply
interested mon leaning forward, even
holding their breath IA intense eager.
ness. Each realized that . fortune
lay On the table: knew that the old
Judge had madly staksd his all On tho
value Of those five unseen cards
gripped In his fingers. Again. ~
though to bolster up his shaken cour-
age, he stared at the face of each. then
lifted his bloodshot eyes 10 the i'm.
passive face opposite.
'Beaucaire drew two kayards,"
whispered an excited voice near me.
"Hslll So did Kirby" replied an
other. They're both Of 'em old
hands,"
The sharp exhaust Of a distant
steam pipe below punctuated the ST.
lenca and several glanced about ap-
prehenrivsly. As this noise ceased
Beaucaire lost all control over his
nerves.
"Coms on, play your hand" ne de-
handed. "or I'll throw my cards in
your faee."
The insinuatins sheer on Kirby's
lips changed into the semblanee Of a
smile. Slowly, deliberately. never
once g1ancing down at the face of his
cards, he turAed them up one by one
with his white fingers. bis challenging
eyes On the Judge; but the others saw
what was rsvealed--A ten-spot.
knave, a queen. . king and an acc.
"A straight flush r. koneone yelled
excitediy. Odd II I ever saw. one
beforei"
For an instant Beauea!rs never
moved. mover uttered sound. He
seemed to doubt The evidence at hia
Own eyes, and 10 Aavs lcst tho power
Of speech. Thea from nerveless
hands his own cards fell fase down.
ward. still unrevealeA. upon the table
The next moment he was on his feet,
the chair in which no had been seated
flung crashing behind him on the deck.
"Ysu thief she roared. "You dirty,
low-down- thief; I. held four aces--
where did you get the 9Th sAs1"
Kirby did not - much 10 Hlova. nor
betJay oven ~ change q s1prssaaaA
his sense Of the situatdes. Fsfhaps 10
anticipated just such ~ explosion and
was fully prepared to meet Il One
hand still rested easily On The table,
the ether remaining hidden.