and bowed right and left.

"Me allee samee velly smartee Chinee, so be," he observed, blandly. "Me
likee Melican mans velly muchee."

The next thing he did was to toss a silver coin to the ceiling and as it
came down he caught it in his mouth and went through the motions of
swallowing it.

"Me allee samee eatee money, so be," he went on to say, smiling and
bowing again.

It was just then that our hero and his partners came into the room.

"Hello, Wild!" called out Sedgwick, who was one of those present. "Your
funny Chinaman has been doing some stunts fur us."

"Oh, he is liable to do almost anything," was the reply. "What is the
matter, Hop? Who told you that you could come over here?"

"Allee samee nothing the mattee, Misler Wild," answered Hop, shaking his
head and looking serious. "Nobody say me comee over here; me comee allee
samee, so be."

There was a laugh at this, and then Hop had succeeded in doing what he
had tried for. He had got the good will of the miners.

Having satisfied himself on this point, he stepped up to the bar, and,
nodding pleasantly to Hoker, the boss, he observed:

"Me likee chuckee dicee for um dlinks, so be."

"You would, eh? Well, I never yet chucked dice with a Chinee; but blamed
if I don't do it jest this once. What's it goin' ter be, fur all hands?"

"Lat light; allee samee all hands gittee lillee dlink. If me lose me
pay; if you lose you allee samee givee um dlinks."

"Good!"

The saloon keeper brought out the dice, and, shaking them in the leather
box, rolled them out.

"There yer are!" he said, exultantly. "There's fourteen fur yer ter
beat. If yer do it you're a mighty good one."

"Allee light," was the reply; "me velly muchee lucky Chinee, so be."

Then Hop picked up the little cubes and appeared to be examining them
closely.

But he was doing something else, too.

He had three dice of his own, and when he rattled the box preparatory to
making his throw they were the ones in it.

Hop's dice were not straight dice.

They had only fives and sixes stamped on them, so no matter how they
were rolled less than fifteen could not come up.

Though the dice were not exactly the size of those furnished by Hoker,
it would be hard to tell the difference, unless one made a close
examination of them.

Hop rolled out the dice and two sixes and a five showed up.

"Lat velly goodee thlow, so be," he observed, and then he picked up the
dice and dropped the regular ones i