ring a little of that outside
money?"

Evan smiled.

"I don't even know how to spell money," he said.

"All the more reason why you should take a hand," chimed in Brower. "I
was broke the night before last, and now I've got three dollars and
seventy-five cents, and am specializing in velvet."

"What's velvet?" asked Evan.

"This here," said three of the boys together, indicating reserve heaps
of matches.

"And how much does each match stand for?" continued Nelson.

"We're playing penny," answered Levison, "with a nickel limit. That
means fairly small losses for each man and a pretty good clean-up for
the winner, with five playing."

"Have you been only two nights making three dollars and six bits?" Evan
asked Brower.

"Yes," was the reply, "that's more than I can make in two days in the
bank."

"Of course," observed Marks, "when you get a bean for a day's work you
make it out of the bank, but this night-pay comes out of us. A slight
difference, to use the words of a--"

"Come on," interrupted Brower, "ante and get the game a-going again."

"Sure," said Levison, turning away from the cash-book man.

Evan was coaxed no further, but stayed behind the boys and watched
their plays. By and by he asked the teller about certain cards.

"Just a minute and I'll show you," said Sid. "Raise you five--pay
me--ace high!"

"By Jupiter," grumbled Marks, "my heap looks like the Farmers Bank
clearing."

"See," smiled the teller, while the others enjoyed Marks' ill-luck
rather than his joke, "I made enough that time to retrieve half an
hour's losses."

Evan looked across at the C man.

"How about Marks, though?" he asked, half-seriously.

"Don't worry about muh," cried Marks, "I see a 'straight' coming this
time."

The C man laughed so hard and colored so quickly on seeing his hand
that the other boys gaped at him and played carefully. He finally
bluffed them out with a pair.

In the laughter and uproar that followed, Evan was studious. He had
seen through the play, of course; but the excitement rather than the
humor of it appealed to him. Here, he said within himself, was
entertainment, company and economy combined. None of the boys were
losing much, could lose much, and the pleasure they took out of it was
surprising. Still, Evan was not fond of the idea of taking the
smallest sum from his companions. He knew how hard they worked for it.

"Well, what about it?" asked the teller, suddenly, lookin