features were gray and drawn. Already he saw his girl married to the man
opposite to him. For an instant his weakness led him to think of
refusing to play further--to defy Lablache and bid him do his worst.
Then he remembered that the girl herself had insisted that he must see
the game through--besides, he might yet win. He forced his thoughts to
the coming hand. He was to deal.

The deal, as far as he was concerned, was successful, His spirits rose.

Four--two.

Lablache took up the cards to deal. John was watching as though his life
depended upon what he saw. Lablache's clumsy shuffle annoyed him. The
lashless eyes of the money-lender were bent upon the cards, but he had
no difficulty in observing the old man's attention. This unusual
attention he set down to a natural excitement. He had not the smallest
idea that the old man suspected him. He passed the cards to be cut. The
rancher cut them carelessly. He had a natural cut. The pack was nearly
halved. Lablache had prepared for this.

The hand was dealt, and the money-lender won with three aces, all of
which he had drawn in a five-card draw. He had discarded a pair of nines
to make the heavy draw. It was clumsy, but he had been forced to it. The
position of the aces in the pack he had known, and--well, he meant to
win.

Five--two.

The clumsiness of that deal was too palpable. Old John suspected, but
held his tongue. His anger rose, and the drawn face flushed with the
suddenness of lightning. He was in a dangerous mood. Lablache saw the
flush, and a sudden fear gripped his heart. He passed the cards to the
other, and then, involuntarily, his hand dropped into the right-hand
pocket of his coat. It came in contact with his revolver--and stayed
there.

The next hand passed without the pot being opened--and the next.
Lablache was a little cautious. The next deal resulted in favor of the
rancher.

Five--three.

Lablache again took the cards. This time he meant to get his hand in the
deal. At that moment the money-lender would have given a cool thousand
had a bottle of whisky been on the table. He had not calculated on John
being sober. He shuffled deliberately and offered the pack to be cut.
John cut in the same careless manner, but this time he did it purposely.
Lablache picked up the bottom half of the cut. There was a terrible
silence in the room, and a deadly purpose was expressed in "Poker"
John's eyes.

The money-lender began to deal. In an instant John