The Bismarck tribune., 1925-11-25

roo.n and the two men followed.
Best spoke to his partner i'll 4 loW
voice:
Say. Zen. ii she can make hall
way Bluff at it she'll be big card.
Ti,nl; OF the play she'll get"
By, Miller was dubious. shes
nothing but a kid" he protested. "a
dealer has got to have experience.
and, besides. she amt the kind that
belongs in dump. Somebody'd
get fresh and-Id have to bust
him."
There was little activity around
tn. tables {. this hour OF the day:
the occupants Of the gambling room
were. for the most part, house en-
ployecs who were waiting for blSi
ness to begin. The ma joritv OF
these employees were gathered about
fthc faro. layout. where the cards
were being run III pcrtunctory
manner TO an accompaniment at
gossip and reminisccncc. The sight
OF Ben Miller in company with a
girl evoked some wonder. This Won
der increased to amazcment when
Miller ordered the dcalrr out o; his
scat; it became opcr-rncut!,cd when
the girl took his place. then broke 4
new deck OF cards. deity shunled
them. and slipped them into the box.
At this procedure IT, languid look
OFT, who had been comfortably rest
ing upon his spine. uncurlcd his legs,
Euls:ed himself into an attitude OF
attention. and leaned forward with
4 startled expression upon his face
The gamblers crowded closer, ex-
changing cxpectant glances: Ber
Miller and Morris Best helped them,
selves. to chips aud began to play.
These were queer doi,,gs; the Case
hardened onioul,ers prepared to, en-
Joy mildly entertaining treat. Soo,'
grins began to appear; the men n;ur-
INJURED, they rudgcd one another,
they slapped one another Oh the
| back. for what they saw astonished
and delighted them. The girl deal,
swiftly, surely; she handled the par
aphcrnalia of the iaro-tablc with the
careless familiarity OF long practice;
but stranger still. she maintained q
poise, Il certain reserve and feminine
dignity which were totally incon-
gruous.
When, during a pause, she, absent.
mindcdly shuffled stack OF chips.
the Mocha Kid permitted his feel
ings to get the better Of him.
Hang me for. horsc-thicf!" he
snickercd. "W'ill you look at that?"
Now the Mocha Kid was ribald
character. profanity was part OF
him, and blasphcmy cmbellishcd his
casual speech. The mildncss of his
exclamation showed that he was
deeply moved. He continued i'll the
same admiring undcrtone. Il seen
dame once that could deal bank,
but she couldn't pay and take. This
gal can size up stack with her eyes
sluty
Nothing could have, more deeply
intrigued the attention OF these men
than the sight OF modest, quiet,
wcll-behaved young woman exhib-
iting all the tecl,nic of a finished
faro-dcaler. It was contrary to their
experience, to their ideas of fitness.
Mastery Of the ga1ning-table re-
quircS years OF praCtlCc 10 acquire,
and not one OF these professionals
but was, as proud of his own dex-
tc-ity as a fine pianist: to behold
mere girl possessed OF all the knacks
and tricks and ,nannerisms of the
craft excited their keenest risibili-
ties. In or der the more thoroughly
to test her skill several OF them
bought stacks OF chips and began to
play in earnest; they played their
bets open, they coppered, they split,
they strung them. and al the finish
they called the turn. Rouletta paid
and took; she measured stacks OF
counters with unfailing facility, she
overlooked no bets. She ran out
the cards. upset the box. and began
to re-shuffle the cards.
(To be continued)