Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-08-27

while Simon duplicated the order. If
mot a Sic Of It. !" The Saint was per-
fectly sincere. i don't often meet any
one with an unusual job like yours.
MFR. Naski1 polished a pair Of horn
trimmed spectacles. fitted them On his
nose and hitched himself forward.
Look" he said eagerly. he hauled
out a pack Of cards.
1 you take em. Look EN- over as
I much as you Like. See II you can find
i anything wrong with 'eTn. All
right Now shuttle EN-. Shuttle EN- all
! you want" He waited Nov spread
EN- out on the table. Take any card
/ you like. Look at it-dont let me see
1t. All right. You've got the six Of dia-
monds."
Simon turned the card over. It was
the SIX OF diamonds.
The Saint grinned. He drew hand
full Of cards towards him. face down
wards as they lay, and pored over the
backs for two or three minutes before
he sat back again with a rueful snFuF.
Mr.. NaskiIl chortled
There's nothing wrong with your
eyes," he said you could go over EN-
with q microscope and not find any
thing. All the same. I'll tell you what
you've got. The king OF spades, the
two OF spades, the ten Of hearts"
"I1l take your word for 1t" said the
Saint resignedly. But how on earth
do you do tt2"
Naskili glowed delightedly.
Look" he said.
He took off his glasses and passed
them over. Under the flat lenses ST.
mon could see the notations clearly
printed in the corners of each card
ks, IS, l0H. They vanished as soon
as he removed the glasses and 1t was
impossible to find q trace OF them
with the naked eye.
invented it myself. Special Ink and
special kind Of glass. There is q tint
in 1t, OF course, but it's too faint to
notice" Naskill showed the cards over
the cloth Here Keep the lot for a
souvenir. You can have some fun with
your friends. But don't go asking EN-
for a game of poker, mind"
Simon gathered the cards together.
1T would be rather temptation,
he admitted. But don't you get lot
Of customers who buy them just for
that2"
aSure. A lot Of professionals use my
stuff know EN- all. Often see 'em
in the shop. 1t isn't only professionals,
either. You'd be surprised at some Of
the people I've had come in and ask
for 3 deck of readers-that's the trade
name for 'em. remember one fei-
low -"
He launched into a series Of anec-
dotes that filled up the time until they
had TO separate to their compartments
to collect their luggage.
Two DAYS later Simon Templar was
his long, lean body on the
private beach of the Roney Plaza when
two voices reached him sufficiently
80 tf1ass.coltroa fF1fn his
drowsy consciousness. They belonged
to a man and girl, and it was OBJ
vious that they were quaTreling. And
then he heard the girl say: my God,
are you so dumb that you can't see
that they must be crooks2"
The Saint rolled over and looked &c
the girl. She was only q few feet away
from him, and even at that range itI
was easier to go on looking than tol
look away. From her loose raven hair
down to her daintily enameled toe
nails there wasn't an inch Of her that
didn't make its own demoraliz1ng de-
mands on the eye, and the clinging
silk swimsuft she wore left very few
inches any secret.
'sWhy must they be crooks?" asked
The man stubbornly. He was young and
5ow-headed, but the Saints keen sur
vey traced hard and haggard lines In
his face. "Just because I've been out OF
luck"
'IuckI" The girls voice was scorn- Z
Jul and impatient You were out Of {
uck when you met them. Two men
hat you know nothing about, who
pick you up in q bar and suddenly
discover that you're the bosom pal
.hey've been looking for all their lives J
who want TO take you out to dinner J
very night, and buy you drinks and
how YOU the towYa-and you talk about
uckl D'you think they'd do all that If
hey didn't know they could get you to
Slay cards with them every night and
make you lose enough to pay them back
hundred times 0Yer2''
II won plenty from them to begin I
With"
"Of course you didl They let you
Vin-just to encourage you to play 9
higher. And now you've lost all that
Jack, and lot more that you can't I
.fford TO lose. And you're still going Z
N, making it worse and worse" She
aught his arm tmpulsively, and her
dice softened. "Ch. Eddie, I hate fight
&c what fool you're being?" s
well, why don't you leave me alone
T you hate fighting2" D
He shrugged himself angrily away
rom her, and as he turned he looked
traight into the Saints eyes. Simon I
vas so interested that the movement 9
aught him unprepared, still watching 9
hem, as If he had been hiding behind :
curtain and it had been abruptly :
0rn down.
1t was much too late for Simon tol
witch his eyes away without looking III
ven C1liItier and the Young man went I'll