The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-01-16

II about twenty field hands,"
II And house servants?"
II "Three or four"
II The gamblers lips set more tight,
4 dull CLEAN creeping into his eyes.
] "See here, Beaucaire," he hisse
/. sharply. 'Thls is my game, and
play square and never squeal. 1 kno,
: about what you've got, for I've locke
. them over; thought we might ge
/ down to this sometime. can make
: pretty fair guess as to what your mig
, gers are worth. That's why / JUS
, raised you ten thousand and put Vi
the money. Now If you think this i
bluff. call me-"
"What do you mean?"
''That / will accept your niggers a
covering my bet."
''The field hands?
Kirby smiled broadly.
sThe whole bunch-field hands ant
house servants. Most of them are old
I doubt if altogether they will bring
that amount, but I'll take the risk
Throw in a blanket bill of sale, and
We'll turn up our cards. If you won't
do that the pile is mine as it stands
at the uncovered cards in his hands.
He could not lose; with what ne held
no combination was possible which
would beat him. Yet in spite Of this
knowledge the cold, sneering conf
dence of Kirby brought with 1t u
strange fear. The man was a profess
sional gambler. What gave him such
recklessness? Why should he be so
eager to risk such a sum on an in
ferior hand? 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, grasped a filled
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, I'll do itr' he
blurted out. "You can't bluff me on
the hand I've got. Give me sheet
of paper, somebody-yes, that will
do"
He scrawled a half-dozen lines,
fairly digging the pen into the sheet
in his fierce eagerness, and then
signed the document, finging the pa
per across toward Kirby.
There, you bloodsucker," he cried
insolently. "Is that all right? Will
that do?"
The imperturbable gambler read i. |
over slowly, carefully deciphering each |
word, his thin lips tightly compressed. |
"You might add the words, This in
cludes every chattel slave legally be-
longing to me-" he said grimly.
"That is practically what 1 did say"
"Then you can certainly have no
objection to putting 1T in the exact
words I choose" calmly. 81 intend to
have what is coming to me If win,
and know the law"
Beaucaire angrily wrote in the re-
quired extra line
Nov what?' he asked.
'Let McAfee there sign 1t as q wit
ness, and then toss it over into the
pile" He smiled, showing a line OF
white teeth beneath his mustache.
Nice little pot, conference.-the judge
must hold some cards to take chance
ike that" the words uttered with a
'neer. ''Fours, at least, or maybe he
las had the luck to pick a straight
lush"
Beaucaire's face REDEEMED, and his
yes brew hard.
THAT'S my business he said terse-
Y. "Sign it. McAfee, and I'll call this .
rowing cockerel. You young fool, {
'layed poker before you were born. /
there now, Kirby, I've covered your
ct" /,
Perhaps you would prefer to raise
II"
"You hell-hound-no That Is my ,
nit, and you know it. Don't crawl /
ow, or do any more bluffing. Show S
our hand-Pve called YOU i
Kirby sat absolutely motionless, his 7
ards lying face down upon the table, s
he white fingers of one hand resting
Chilly upon them, the other arm con- Q
called. He never once removed his
axe from Beaucaire's face, and his n
xpression did not change, except for b
lie almost insulting sheer on his lips.
he silence was profound, the deeply u
lterested men leaning forward, even 8
gliding their breath IN Intense eager S
ess. Each realized that fortune a
" on the table; knew that the old s.
ldge had madly staked his all on the t,
llue of those five unseen cards q
tipped in his fingers. Again, as n
lough to bolster up his shaken cour- a
ye, he stared at the face OF each, then ir
fled his bloodshot eyes, to the I'm G,
lssive face opposite. "
"Beaucaire drew two kayards II
an excited voice near me. b,
Hell! So did Kirby replied an I,
her. They're both of 'em old II
nds"
The sharp exhaust Of a distant 10
cam Pipe below punctuated the n
ace, and several glanced shout ap-l IA
Al this noise ceased n
lost Ill control Ovef hisi