VII
"DEALING THE ODD"
Faro-bank is an expensive game when luck turns a cold shoulder on anyplayer, and "going broke" is as easy as ruffling a deck. When a manfinds he has two dollars left out of more than two months' pay and thatit has taken him less than thirty minutes to get down to that mark, hecannot be censored much if he rails at that Will-o'-the-wisp, theGoddess of Luck. Put him a good ten days' ride from home, acquaintancesand money and perhaps he will be justified in adding heat in plenty tohis denunciation. He had played to win when he should have coppered,coppered when he should have played to win, he had backed both endsagainst the middle and played the high card as well--but only when hisbets were small did the turn show him what he wanted to see. Perhapsthe case-keeper had hoodooed him, for he never did have any luck atcards when a tow-headed man had a finger in the game.
Fuming impotently at his helplessness, a man limped across the mainstreet in Colby, constrained and a little awkward in his new storeclothes and new, squeaking boots that were clumsy with stiffness. Theonly things on him that he could regard as old and tried friends werethe battered sombrero and the heavy, walnut-handled Colt's .45 whichrubbed comfortably with each movement of his thigh. The weapon, to besure, had a ready cash value--but he could not afford to part with it.The horse belonged to his ranch, and the saddle must not be sold; topart with it would be to lose his mark of caste and become a walkingman, which all good punchers despised.
"Ten days from home, knowin' nobody, two measly dollars in my pocket,an' luck dead agin me," he growled with pugnacious pessimism. "Oh, I 'ma wise old bird, I am! A h--l of a wise bird. Real smart an' cute an'shiny, a cache of wisdom, a real, bonyfied Smart Aleck with a head fullof spavined brains. I copper th' deuce an' th' deuce wins; I play th'King to win for ten dollars when I ought to copper it. I lay two-bitsand it comes right--ten dollars an' I see my guess go _loco_. Reckon Ibetter slip these here twin bucks down in my kill-me-soon boots aforesome blind papoose takes 'em away from me. Wiser 'n Solomon, I am; I've got old Caesar climbin' a cactus for pleasure an' joy. S-u-c-k-e-ris my middle name--an' I 'm busted."
He almost stumbled over a little tray of a three-legged table on thecorner of the street and his face went hard as he saw the layout. Threehalves of English walnut shells lay on the faded and soiled green clothand a blackened, shriveled pea was still rolling from the shaking he hadgiven the table. He stopped and regarded it gravely, jingling his twodollars disconsolately. "Don't this town do nothin' else besidesgamble?" he muttered, looking around.
"Howd'y, stranger!" cheerfully cried a man who hastened up. "Want tosee me fool you?"
The puncher's anger was aroused to a thin, licking flame; but it passedswiftly and a cold, calculating look came into his eyes. He glancedaround swiftly, trying to locate the cappers, but they were not to beseen, which worried him a little. He always liked to have possibledanger where he could keep an eye on it. Perhaps they were eating ordrinking--the thought stirred him again to anger: two dollars would notfeed him very long, nor quench his thirst.
"Pick it out, stranger," invited the proprietor, idly shifting theshells. "It's easy if yo 're right smart--but lots of folks just can'tdo it; they can't seem to get th' hang of it, somehow. That's why it's abettin' proposition. Here it is, right before yore eyes! One littlepea, three little shells, right here plumb in front of yore eyes! Th'little pea hides under one of th' little shells, right in plain sight:But can you tell which one? That's th' whole game, right there. See howit's done?" and the three little shells moved swiftly but clumsily andthe little pea disappeared. "Now, then; where would _you_ say it was?"demanded the hopeful operator, genially.
The puncher gripped his two dollars firmly, shifted his weight as muchas possible on his sound leg, and scowled: he knew where it was. "Do Ilook like a kid? Do you reckon you have to coax like a fool to get meall primed up to show how re-markably smart an' quick I am? You don't;I know how smart I am. Say, you ain't, not by any kinda miracle, a blindpapoose, are you?" he demanded.
"What you mean?" asked the other, smiling as he waited for the joke. Itdid not come, so he continued. "Don't take no harm in my foolwind-jammin', stranger. It's in th' game. It's a habit; I 've said itso much I just can't help it no more--I up an' says it at a funeralonce; that is, part of it--th' first part. That's dead right! But Ireckon I 'm wastin' my time--unless you happen to feel coltish an'hain't got nothin' to do for an age. I 've been playin' in hard luckth' last week or so--you see, I ain't as good as I uster be. I ain'tquite so quick, an' a little bit off my quickness is a whole lot off mychances. But th' game's square--an' that's a good deal more'n you cansay about most of 'em."
The puncher hesitated, a grin flickering about his thin lips and a calmjoy warming him comfortably. He knew the operator. He knew that face,the peculiar, crescent-shaped scar over one brow, and the big, blue eyesthat years of life had not entirely robbed of their baby-like innocence.The past, sorted thoroughly and quickly by his memory, shoved out thatface before a crowd of others. Five years is not a long time toremember something unpleasant; he had reasons to remember thatcountenance. Knowing the face he also knew that the man had been, atone time, far from "square." The associations and means of livelihoodduring the past five years, judging from the man's present occupation,had not been the kind to correct any evil tendency. He laid aforefinger on the edge of the tray. "Start th' machinery--I 'll risk acouple of dollars, anyhow. That ain't much to lose. I bet two dollarsI can call it right," he said, watching closely.
He won, as he knew he would; and the result told him that the gamblerhad not reformed. The dexterous fingers shifting the shells were slowerthan others he had seen operate and when he had won again he stopped, asif to leave. "When I hit town a short time ago I didn't know I 'd be solucky. I went an' drawed two months' pay when I left th' ranch: I shoredon't need it. Shuffle 'em again--it's yore money, anyhow," he laughed."You should 'a' quit th' game before you got so slow."
"Goin' back to work purty soon?" queried the shell-man, wondering howmuch this "sucker" had left unspent.
"Not me! I 've only just had a couple of drinks since I hit town--an'_I_ 'm due to celebrate."
The other's face gave no hint of his thoughts, which were that the foolbefore him had about a hundred dollars on his person. "Well, luck'swith you today--you 've called it right twice. I 'll bet you a coolhundred that you can't call it th' third time. It's th' quickness of myhands agin yore eyes--an' you can't beat me three straight. Make it ahundred? I hate to play all day."
"I 'll lay you my winnings an' have some more of yore money," repliedthe puncher, feverishly. "Ain't scared, are you?"
"Don't know what it means to be scared," laughed the other. "But Iain't got no small change, nothin' but tens. Play a hundred an' let'shave some real excitement."
"Nope; eight or nothin'."
He won again. "Now, sixteen even. Come on; I 've got you beat."
"But what's th' use of stringin' 'long like that?" demanded theshell-man.
"Gimme a chance to get my hand in, won't you?" retorted the puncher.
"Well, all right," replied the gambler, and he lost the sixteen.
"Now thirty," suggested the puncher. "Next time all I 've got, everyred cent. Once more to practice--then every red," he repeated, shiftinghis feet nervously. "I 'll clean you out an' have a real, genuineblow-out on yore money. Come on, I 'm in a hurry."
"I 'll fool you _this_ time, by th' Lord!" swore the gambler, angrily."You've got more luck than sense. An' I 'll fool you next time, too. Yo're quicker 'n most men I 've run up agin, but I can beat you, shore asshootin'. Th' game's square, th' play fair--my hand agin yore eye.Ready? Then watch me!"
He swore luridly and shoved the money across the board to the winner,bewailing his slowness and getting angrier every moment. "Yo 're th'cussedest man I ever bet agin! But I'll get you _this_ time. You can'tguess right all t
h' time, an' I know it."
"There she is; sixty-two bucks, three score an' two simoleons; all I 'vegot, every cent. Let's see you take it away from me!"
The gambler frowned and choked back a curse. He had risked sixtydollars to win two, and the fact that he had to let this fool play againwith the fire hurt his pride. He had no fear for his money--he knew hecould win at every throw--but to play that long for two dollars! Andsuppose the sucker had quit with the sixty!
"Do you get a dollar a month?" he demanded, sarcastically. "Well, Ireckon you earn it, at that. Thought you had money, thought you drewdown two months' pay an' hain't had nothin' more'n two drinks? Did yougo an' lose it on th' way?"
"Oh, I drew it a month ago," replied the sucker, surprised. "I 've onlyhad two drinks in this town, which I hit 'bout an hour ago. But I shorelost a wad playin' faro-bank agin a towhead. Come on--lemme take sixtymore of yore money, anyhow."
"Sixty-_two_!" snapped the proprietor, determined to have those twomiserable dollars and break the sucker for revenge. "Every cent, youremember."
"_All_ right; I don't care! I ain't no tin-horn," grumbled the other."Think I care 'bout two dollars?" But he appeared to be very nervous,nevertheless.
"Well, put it on th' table."
"After you put yourn down."
"There it is. Now watch me close!" A gleam of joy flashed up in theangry man's eyes as he played with the shells. "Watch me close! Mebbyit is, an' mebby it ain't--th' game's square, th' play 's fair. It's myhand agin yore eye. Watch me close!"
"Oh, go ahead! I'm watchin', all right. Think I 'd go to sleep now!"
The shifting hands stopped, the shells lay quiet, and the gambler gazedblankly down the unsympathetic barrel of a Colt.
"Now, Thomas, old thimble-rigger," crisply remarked the supposed suckeras he cautiously slid the money off the table, to be picked up laterwhen conditions would be more favorable. "Th' little pea ain't under_no_ shell. _Stop_! Step back one pace an' elevate them paws. Don'tmake no more funny motions with that hand, savvy? But you can drop th'pea if it hurts them two fingers. Now we 'll see if I win; I allus liketo be shore," and he cautiously turned over the shells, revealingnothing but the dirty green cloth. "I win; it ain't there--just like Ithought."
"Who are you, an' how 'd you know my name?" demanded the gambler,mentally cursing his two missing cappers. They were drinking once toooften and things were going to happen in their vicinity, and very soon.
"Why, you took twenty-five dollars from me up in Alameda onct, when Icould n't afford to lose it," grinned the puncher. "I was something ofa kid then. I remember you, all right. My foreman told me about yorebang-up fight agin th' Johnson brothers, who gave you that scar. Ithought then that you were a great man--now I know you ain't. I wouldn't 'a' played at all if I had n't knowed how crooked you was. Take yorelayout an' yore crookedness, find th' pea an' yore cappers, an' clearout. An' if anybody asks you if you 've seen Hopalong Cassidy you tell'em I 'm up here in Colby makin' some easy money beatin' crooked games.So-long, an' _don't_ look back!"
Hopalong watched him go and then went to the nearest place where hecould get something to eat. In due time, having disposed of a squaremeal, Hopalong called for a drink and a cigar, and sat quietly smokingfor nearly half an hour, so lost in thought that his cigar went outrepeatedly. As he reviewed his disastrous play at faro many smalldetails came to him and now he found them interesting. The dealer wasnot a master at his trade and Hopalong had seen many better; in fact theman was not even second class, and this fact hurt his pride. He hadplayed a careful game, and the great majority of his small bets hadwon--it was only when he risked twenty or thirty dollars that he lost.The only big bet that he had been at all lucky on was one where doublesshowed on the turn and he had been split, losing half of his stake. Butwhen he had played his last fifty dollars on the Jack, open, the finalblow fell and he had left the table in disgust.
Why weren't there cue-cards, so the players could keep their own tallyof the cards instead of having to depend on the cue-box kept by thecase-keeper? This made him suspicious; a crooked dealer and case-keepercan trim a big bet at will, unless the players keep their own cases orare exceptionally wise; and even then a really good dealer will get awaywith his play nine times out of ten. While he seldom played a system,he had backed one that morning; but he was cured of that weakness now.If the game were square he figured he could get at least an even break;if crooked, nothing but a gun could beat it, and he had a very good gun.When he thought of the gun, he reviewed the arrangement of the room andestimated the weight of the rough, deal table on which rested the farolayout. He smiled and turned to the bartender. "Hey, barkeeper! Gotany paper an' a pencil?"
After some rummaging the taciturn dispenser of liquid forget-it producedthe articles in question and Hopalong, drawing some hurried lines, paidhis bill, treated, kept the pencil and headed for the faro game acrossthe street.
When he entered the room the table was deserted and he nodded to thedealer as he seated himself at the right of the case-keeper, who nowtook his place, and opposite the dealer and the lookout. He was notsurprised to find no other players in the room, for the hour was wrong;later in the afternoon there would be many and at night the place wouldbe crowded. This suited him perfectly and he settled himself to beginplaying.
When the deck was shuffled and placed in the deal box Hopalong put hisruled paper in front of him on the table, tallied once against the Kingfor the soda card and started to play quarters and half dollars. Hecaught the fugitive look that passed between the men as they saw hiscue-card but he gave no sign of having observed it. After that he neverlooked up from the cards while his bets were small. Two deals did notalter his money much and he knew that so far the game was straight. Ifit were not to remain straight the crookedness would not come more thanonce in a deal if the frame-up was "single-odd" and then not until thebet was large enough to practically break him. His high-card play ranin his favor and kept him gradually drawing ahead. He lost twice incalling the last turn and guessed it right once, at four to one, whichmade him win in that department of the game.
When the fifth deal began he was quite a little ahead and his playbecame bolder, some of the bets going as high as ten dollars. He brokeeven and then played heavier on the following deal. His first high bet,twenty dollars, was on the eight, open, only one eight having shown.Double eights showed on the next turn and he was split, losing half thestake.
It was about this time that the look-out discovered that Mr. Cassidy wasgetting a little excited and several times had nearly forgotten to keephis cases. This information was cautiously passed to the dealer andcase-keeper and from then on they evinced a little more interest in thegame. Finally the player, after studying his cue-card, placed fiftydollars on the Queen, open, and coppered the deuce, a case-card, andthen put ten more on the high card. This came in the middle of the gameand he was prepared for trouble as the turn was made, but fortune waskind to him and he raked in sixty dollars. He was mildly surprised thathe had won, but explained it to himself by thinking that the stakes werenot yet high enough. From then on he was keenly alert, for thecrookedness would come soon if it ever did, but he strung small sums onthe next dozen turns and waited for a new deal before plunging.
As the dealer shuffled the cards the door opened and closed noisily anda surprised and doubting voice exclaimed: "Ain't you Hopalong Cassidy?Cassidy, of th' Bar-20?"
Hopalong glanced up swiftly and back to the cards again: "Yes; what ofit?"
"Oh, nothin'. I saw you onct an' I wondered if I was right."
"Ain't got time now; see you later, mebby. You might stick aroundoutside so I can borrow some money if I go broke." The man who knew Mr.Cassidy silently faded, but did not stick around, thereby proving thatthe player knew human nature and also how to get rid of a pest.
When the dealer heard the name he glanced keenly at the owner of it,exchanged significant looks with the case-keeper and faltered for aninstant
as he shoved the cards together. He was not sure that he hadshuffled them right, and an anxious look came into his eyes as herealized that the deal must go on. It was far from reassuring to setout to cheat a man so well known for expert short-gun work as the Bar-20puncher and he wished he could be relieved. There was no other dealeraround at that time of the day and he had to go through with it. He didnot dare to shuffle again and chance losing the card beyond hope, andfor the reason that the player was watching him like a hawk.
A ten lay face up on the deck and Hopalong, tallying against it on hissheet, began to play small sums. Luck was variable and remained sountil the first twenty dollar bet, when he reached out excitedly andraked in his winnings, his coat sleeve at the same time brushing thecue-card off the table. But he had forgotten all about the tally sheetin his eagerness to win and played several more cards before he noticedit was missing and sought for it. Smothering a curse he glanced at thecase-keeper's tally and went on with the play. He did not see the lookof relief that showed momentarily on the faces of the dealer and hisassociates, but he guessed it.
He had no use for cue-cards when he felt like doing without them; heliked to see them in use by the players because it showed the game to bemore or less straight, and it also saved him from over-heating hismemory. When he had brushed his tally sheet off the table he knew whathe was doing, and he knew every card that had been drawn out of the box.So far he had seen no signs of cheating and he wished to give the dealera chance. There should now remain in the deal box three cards, a deuce,five and a four, with a Queen in sight as the last winner. He knew thisto be true because he had given all his attention to memorizing thecards as they showed in the deal box, and had made his bets small so hewould not have to bother about them. As he had lost three times on afour he now believed it was due to win.
Taking all his money he placed it on the four: "Two hundred and seventyon th' four to win," he remarked, crisply.
The dealer sniffed almost inaudibly and the case-keeper prepared tocover him on the cue-rack under cover of the excitement of the turn. Ifthe four lay under the Queen, Cassidy lost; if not he either won or wasin hock. The dealer was unusually grave as he grasped the deal box tomake the turn and as the Queen slid off a five-spot showed.
The dealer's hand trembled as he slid the five off, showing a four, anda winner for Hopalong. He went white--he had bungled the shuffle in hisindecision and now he did n't know what might develop. And in hisagitation he exposed the hock card before he realized what he was doing,and showed another five. He had made the mistake of showing the "odd."
Hopalong, ready for trouble, was more prepared than the others and hewas well under way before they started. His left hand swung hardagainst the case-keeper's jaw, his Colt roared at the drawing bartender,crumpling the trouble-hunter into a heap on the floor dazed from shockof a ball that "creased" his head. He had done this as he sprang to hisfeet and his left hand, dropping swiftly to the heavy table, threw itover onto the lookout and the dealer at the instant their hands foundtheir guns. Caught off their balance they went down under it and beforethey could move sufficiently to do any damage, Hopalong vaulted thetable and kicked their guns out of their hands. When they realized justwhat had happened a still-smoking Colt covered them. Many of Hopalong'smost successful and spectacular plays had been less carefully thoughtout beforehand than this one and he laughed sneeringly as he looked atthe men who had been so greedy as to try to clean him out the secondtime.
"Get up!" he snarled.
They crawled out of their trap and sullenly obeyed his hand, backingagainst the wall. The case-keeper was still unconscious and Hopalong,disarming him, dragged him to the wall with the others.
"I wondered where that deuce had crawled to," Mr. Cassidy remarked,grimly, "an' I was goin' to see, only it's plain now. I knowed you wasclumsy, but my G--d! Any man as can't deal 'single-odd' ought to quitth' business, or play straight. So you had five fives agin me, eh?Instead of keepin' th' five under th' Queen, you bungled th' deuce inits place. When you went to pull off th' Queen an' five like they wasone card, you had th' deuce under her. You see, I keep cases in my oldred head an' I did n't have to believe what th' cue-rack was all fixedto show me. An' I was waitin', all ready for th' play that 'd make melose.
"As long as this deal was framed up, we 'll say it was this mornin'.You cough up th' hundred an' ten I lost then, an' another hundred an'ten that I 'd won if it was n't crooked. An' don't forget thattwo-seventy I just pulled down, neither. Make it in double eagles an'don't be slow 'bout it. Money or lead--with _you_ callin' th' turn."It was not a very large amount and it took only a moment to count itout. The eleven double eagles representing the mornin's play seemed toslide from the dealer's hand with reluctance--but a man lives only once,and they slid without stopping.
The winner, taking the money, picked up the last money he had bet and,distributing it over his person to equalize the weight, gathered up theguns from the floor. Backing toward the door he noticed that thebartender moved and a keen glance at that unfortunate assured him thathe would live.
When he reached the door he stopped a moment to ask a question, thetenseness of his expression relaxing into a broad, apologetic grin."Would you mind tellin' me where I can find some more frame-ups? Ishore can use th' money."
The mumbled replies mentioned a locality not to be found on any map ofthe surface of the globe, and grinning still more broadly, Mr. Cassidyside-stepped and disappeared to find his horse and go on his wayrejoicing.