a crowd of excited spectators, the
father won back the exact amount his son had lost, and then rising from
his chair sprang at the gambler, seized him, dragged him from the cabin
and flung him into the river.

Terrible as was the furor which this tragedy aroused, it subsided almost
as soon as the ripples of the water which closed over the drowning man,
and the players returned to their games as if nothing had happened.

In the months which they had spent together the quack had indoctrinated
David into all the best-known secrets of this vice, and besides this,
had familiarized him with the use of a certain "hold out" of his own
invention, with which he had achieved incredible results and which was
new to the fraternity of the river. Having watched the players for a
long time, David convinced himself that he could employ this trick
successfully, and took his place at the table.

The young man's nerves were tested by the circumstances in which he
found himself, if nerves are tested to tension anywhere, for he faced
the most experienced masters of the craft who could be found anywhere in
the world, and staked not only his little fortune, but his existence,
for, as he had just seen, these determined and reckless men thought no
more of taking life than of taking money.

David felt his way along with a coolness that astonished himself, and
his very first experiment with the delicate apparatus concealed in his
sleeve was such a brilliant triumph that he saw it was undetected. With
a strengthened confidence, he made the stakes larger and larger, and his
winnings increased so rapidly as to make him the center of attention.
The crowd swarmed round the table. The spectators became breathless. The
gamblers were first astonished, then bewildered. As their nerve failed
them, David's assurance increased, and when day broke ten thousand
dollars lay upon the table before him as the result of his skilful and
desperate efforts.

Their loss astonished and enraged the gamblers to such a degree that
with a preconcerted signal they sprang at their opponent, determined to
regain their money by violence. The move was not unexpected, nor was he
unprepared. He fought as he had played, and so won the sympathies of the
bystanders that in an instant there was a general melee in which he was
helped to escape with the winnings.

He was the hero of the trip, and a career had opened before him.
Satellites began to circle around him and to solicit h