r turn he had eight hundred.

"Luck is with me, boys!" He shouted. "I'll break the bank! Let her swing
for the king once more, Mr. Dealer!"

To the wonder of all, though it was the last turn of the cards, the
king won, and Wild Bill picked up sixteen hundred dollars.

His friends now urged him to quit, but the demon of the game had entered
his soul, and he swore, with a terrible oath, that he would play till he
broke the bank, or was broke himself.

A new pack was now put in the box, and once more the dealer cried out:

"Make your bets gentlemen--make year bets! The game is ready!"

Bill, with a reckless bravado, as much of rum as of his own nature,
again laid all his winnings on one card--this time the queen. And with
wonderful luck--it could be nothing else--he again doubled his pile,
this time his gains being thirty-two hundred dollars.

"Stop now, Bill!" cried California Joe, "This can't last!"

"It shall last! The bank can't stand more than two more such pulls!"
shouted Bill, wildly.

And again on the same card he staked his entire winnings.

The dealer and banker were one; he turned pale, but when all bets were
down, he pulled his cards without a tremor in his hand. But a groan
broke from his lips as the queen once more came out on the winning side.

Once more Bill's stakes were doubled, and this time he changed his card.

The banker hesitated. His capital would hardly cover the pile if Bill
won again.

"Keep on," whispered a voice in his ear; "if he breaks you, I'll stake
your bank."

The banker looked up and saw, though she was disguised in male attire, a
face he well knew. It was that of Addie Neidic, and he knew she was able
to keep her word.

Wild Bill had heard the whisper, and his face was white with rage, for
he thought the bank would succumb before it would risk another chance
with his wonderful luck.

But he let his money lay where he put it, and cried out to the banker to
go on with his game if he dared.

The latter; with firm set lips, cried out:

"Game ready, gentlemen--game ready."

The cards were drawn, and once more Wild Bill had won.

Coolly, as if money was no more than waste paper, Bill gathered up the
pile, and began to thrust it away in his pockets, when the disguised
woman, Addie Neidic, thrust a roll of thousand dollar notes into the
hands of the banker, and cried out:

"This bank is good for fifty thousand dollars. Let no braggart go away
and say he has bluffed the