off o' him. No; I've gotter quit straight off."

"I'll lend you ten to begin on," said the youth, and he laid an X in
the ruffian's hands. "There, now, go ahead with your funeral. It's
your deal."

The cards were dealt, and the game played, resulting in the favor of
the "Cattymount." Another and another was played, and the tough won
every time. Still the youth kept on, a quiet smile resting on his
pleasant features, a twinkle in his coal-black eye. The youth, dear
reader, you have met before.

_He_ is not he, but instead--Calamity Jane. On goes the game, the
burly "tough" winning all the time, his pile of tens steadily
increasing in hight.

"Talk about Joner an' the ark, an' Noar an' ther whale!" he cries,
slapping another X onto the pile with great enthusiasm; "I hed a
grate, grate muther-in-law w'at played keerds wi' Noar inside o' thet
eyedentical whale's stummick--played poker wi' w'alebones fer pokers.
They were afterward landed at Plymouth rock, or sum uther big rock,
an' fit together, side by side, in the rebellyuns."

"Indeed!"--with an amused laugh--"then you must have descended from a
long line of respected ancestors."

"Auntsisters? Wa'al, I jest about reckon I do. I hev got ther blood o'
Cain and Abel in my veins, boyee, an' ef I ken't raise the biggest
kind o' Cain tain't because I ain't _able_--oh! no. Pace anuther
pilgrim?"

"I reckon. How much have ye got piled up thar in that heap!"

"Squar' ninety tens, my huckleberry, an' all won fa'r, you bet."

"Then it's the first time you ever won anything fair, Cass Diamond!"
exclaimed a voice close hand, and the two players looked up to see Ned
Harris standing near by, with his hands clasped across his breast.

Calamity Jane nodded, indifferently. She had seen the young miner on
several occasions; once she had been rendered an invaluable service
when he rescued her from a brawl in which a dozen toughs had attacked
her.

"Cattymount" Cass, brother of Chet Diamond, the Deadwood card-king,
recognized him also, and with an oath, sprung to his feet.

"By all the Celestyals!" he ejaculated, jerking forth a
six-shooter--"by all the roarin', screechin, shriekin', yowlin',
squawkin,' ring-tailed, flat-futted cattymounts thet ever did ther
forest aisles o' old Alaska traverse! _you_ here, ye infernal
smooth-faced varmint? _You_ heer, arter all ye've did to ride ther
cittyzens o' Deadwood inter rebellyun, ye leetle pigminian deputy uv
ther devil? Hurra! hu