the siphon
bottles, and got up yawning, shivering a little and stretching his arms
high above. The other two played on steadily. The Dummy began to gain
slowly upon Ellis, playing very cautiously, betting only upon face
cards, aces, and ten-spots. Twice Ellis offered to sell him the bank,
but he refused, fearful lest it should change his luck.

Vandover sat behind the Dummy's chair, watching his game, but at length,
worn out, he began to drop off to sleep, waking every now and then with
a sudden leap and recoil of all his nerves. An hour later the persistent
scratching of a match awoke him. Ellis and the Dummy were still playing,
and the Dummy was once more relighting the stump of his cigar. Ellis
continued to deal, winning at almost every play; a great pile of chips
and money lay at his elbow. For a few minutes Vandover watched the
Dummy's game, leaning forward in his chair, his elbows on his knees. But
it was evident that the Dummy had lost his nerve. Ellis' continued
winnings had at length demoralized him. At one time he would bet heavily
on worthless cards, and at another would throw back nines and tens for
no apparent reason. Finally Ellis dealt him a queen, which he kept,
betting ten chips. His next card was a seven-spot. He signed to Ellis
that he would stand. Ellis drew twenty in three cards. Vandover could
not restrain an exclamation of impatience at the Dummy's stupidity. What
a fool a man must be to stand on seventeen with only two in the game.
All at once he tossed twenty dollars across the table to Ellis, saying,
"Give me that in chips. I'm coming in again." Once more he resumed his
seat at the table, and Ellis dealt him a hand.

But Vandover's interruption had for an instant taken Ellis' mind from
the game. He stirred in his chair and looked about the room, puffing out
his cheeks and blowing between his lips.

"Say, this room is close enough to strangle you. Open the window behind
you, Van, you're nearest to it." As Vandover raised the curtain he
uttered a cry: "Look here! will you?"

It was morning; the city was flooded by the light of the sun already an
hour high. The sky was without a cloud. Over the roofs and amongst the
gray maze of telegraph wires swarms of sparrows were chittering
hoarsely, and as Vandover raised the window he could hear the newsboys
far below in the streets chanting the morning's papers.

"Come on, Van!" exclaimed Ellis impatiently; "we're waiting for you."

That night decide