tes of the tribe of Silver Phil. It's the difference between
right an' wrong; one works from a impulse of pure jestice, the other is
moved of a sperit of crime; an' thar you be.

"Silver Phil, we learns later--an' it shore jestifies Peets in his
theories about him bein' a degen'rate--has been in plenty of blood.
But allers like a cat; savage, gore-thirsty, yet shy, prideless, an'
ready to fly. It seems he begins to be homicidal in a humble way by
downin' a trooper over near Fort Cummings. That's four years before he
visits us. He's been blazin' away intermittent ever since, and allers
crooel, crafty an' safe. It's got to be a shore thing or Silver Phil
quits an' goes into the water like a mink.

"This yere ondersized miscreant ain't ha'nted about Wolfville more'n
four days before he shows how onnecessary he is to our success. Which
he works a ha'r copper on Cherokee Hall. What's a ha'r copper? I'll
onfold, short and terse, what Silver Phil does, an' then you saveys.
Cherokee's dealin' his game--farobank she is; an' if all them national
banks conducts themse'fs as squar' as that enterprise of Cherokee's,
the fields of finance would be as safely honest as a church.
Cherokee's turnin' his game one evenin'; Faro Nell on the lookout stool
where she belongs. Silver Phil drifts up to the lay-out, an' camps
over back of the king-end. He gets chips, an' goes to takin' chances
alternate on the king, queen, jack, ten; all side an' side they be.
Cherokee bein' squar' himse'f ain't over-prone to expect a devious play
in others. He don't notice this Silver Phil none speshul, an' shoves
the kyards.

"Silver Phil wins three or four bets; it's Nell that catches on to his
racket, an' signs up to Cherokee onder the table with her little foot.
One glance an' Cherokee is loaded with information. This Silver Phil,
it seems, in a sperit of avarice, equips himse'f with a copper--little
wooden checker, is what this copper is--one he's done filched from
Cherokee the day prior. He's fastened a long black hoss-ha'r to it,
an' he ties the other end of the hoss-ha'r to his belt in front. This
ha'r is long enough as he's planted at the table that a-way, so it
reaches nice to them four nearest kyards,--the king, queen, jack, ten.
An' said ha'r is plumb invisible except to eyes as sharp as Faro
Nell's. The deceitful Silver Phil will have a stack on one of 'em,
coppered with this yere ha'r copper. He watches the box. As the turns
is