Pierre, and it's an avil
day that brought this thing to pass, and there's only wan way to the end
of it."

"So, that is true. There is only one way," was the reply; "but what
shall that way be? Someone must go: there must be no mistake. I have
to propose. Here on this table we lay a revolver. We will give up these
which we have in our pockets. Then we will play a game of euchre, and
the winner of the game shall have the revolver. We will play for a life.
That is fair, eh--that is fair"? he said to those around.

King Kinkley, speaking for the rest, replied: "That's about fair. It
gives both a chance, and leaves only two when it's over. While the woman
lives, one of you is naturally in the way. Pierre left her in a way that
isn't handsome; but a wife's a wife, and though Shon was all in the glum
about the thing, and though the woman isn't to be blamed either, there's
one too many of you, and there's got to be a vacation for somebody.
Isn't that so?"

The rest nodded assent. They had been so engaged that they did not see
a woman enter the bar from behind, and crouch down beside Lady Jane,
a woman whom the latter touched affectionately on the shoulder and
whispered to once or twice, while she watched the preparations for the
game.

The two men sat down, Shon facing the bar and Pierre with his back to
it.

The game began, neither man showing a sign of nervousness, though Shon
was very pale. The game was to finish for ten points. Men crowded about
the tables silent but keenly excited; cigars were chewed instead of
smoked, and liquor was left undrunk. At the first deal Pierre made a
march, securing two. At the next Shon made a point, and at the next
also a march. The half-breed was playing a straight game. He could have
stacked the cards, but he did not do so; deft as he was he might have
cheated even the vigilant eyes about him, but it was not so; he played
as squarely as a novice. At the third, at the fourth, deal he made a
march; at the fifth, sixth, and seventh deals, Shon made a march, a
point, and a march. Both now had eight points. At the next deal both got
a point, and both stood at nine!

Now came the crucial play.

During the progress of the game nothing had been heard save the sound of
a knuckle on the table, the flip flip of the pasteboard, or the rasp of
a heel on the floor. There was a set smile on Shon's face--a forgotten
smile, for the rest of the face was stern and tragic. Pierre smoked
cigarettes,