Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-02

I swear Til never raise on 'em again
never! Well. I'm in" He selected one
of his Fights and the odd card to
throw away. holding the pair OF Jacks
he demanded, heatedly. of Broome.
Let's have it over with. If / better
'em. they're worth playin'. If I don't
they amt"
Face up fell two cards. The first,
of course, the trey of hearts. The
second, queen.
Titus, suddenly quiet. tipped them
face downward and shufnled them in
with his other three. His features
froze into immobility: a close observer
might have gathered he wished he
hadn't talked quite so much. go to
it" he remarked to Tostelli:
The other seemed undecided. He
counted out a hundred dollars, halved
it, then halved the remainder. Twen-
ty-five," he said.
Bill swiftly appraised the remain
iflg. chips in front of his opponent
dred dollars. Tostelli had at least a
hundred in his pocket that he had
shown: Titus would have been willing
to wager that the total in his clothes
was not more than hundred and
fifty. A grand total Of two hundred
dred and fifty or less. the loss OF
which might leave him stone broke.
"I'll raise you" he said, slowly,
arranging his chips in little stacks.
I'll raise you, on what I've got here
now, about He took a nerve
narrowing length Of time to come to
conclusion. while he counted out his
chips. with Tostelli's eyes on the little
stacks as he pushed them forward.
"Oh. three hundred"
X 4 X X
DILL had raised before the draw
and had taken two cards, so the
two pairs to which he had SO glibly
referred were an improbability. He
had mentioned "nits and nice" with
scorn-and "nits and NICE are deuces
and treys wherever Americans follow
the national indoor sport. Presum-
ably, then. he had. before the draw.
either three deuces or three treys-
and the chance that they were deuces
would have been materially lessened
by the fact that one deuce had already
deal. even If, by pure coincidence. Tos-
TELLS hand had not also happened to
contain another of them.
Titus sat quietly and looked into
Tostellrs eyes, with no more express
sion in his own than a craven image.
The other considered at length. then
raped sharply on the table.
you're lucky player! he growled,
i'll naturally. These are the open
ers" He showed an ace-high dia-
mond flush.
Bill tossed his hand away. face
downward. and gathered in the pot. Il
reckon I'll be going" he remarked:
its getting near my bedtime and l
guess I'm about even. You Kin deal
me out this next hand" He began to
stack his chips by colors, preparatory
to cashing them.
Broome, who had been watching the
play with inebriated intensity, broke
one of the rules of the game.
II know / oughtn't to do it," he
chuckled, but haven't seen four of a
kind for SO long I've just got to-" He
, turned Bills hand face up. well. I'll
be"
Tostelli's eyes. baleful. rose from
| the pair Of jacks and three non-es-
sential cards that Broomes action had
| revealed to Bills face. You must
| have known that trey was coming"
"Shorely," Titus agreed, mildly.
1.-THE dealer. there. he happened to ex-
! pose it."
what kind Of poker do you call
| that?"
At the tone and implication, both
| insulting, Bills face lost it's smile.
Regular poker" he said. softly: his
eyes. unwinking, staring into Tos-
| TELLS. Regular poker, according to
| the regular authorities. Don't they
all agree a player is justified in TAX
ing advantage Of anything that hap