s chair, an' now he had a fierce scowl on
his face. "That was MY toe you was a-pressin'," he sez, lookin' Piker
between the eyes.

"I beg your pardon," sez Piker, laughin' easy; "I thought it was
Silv--I mean Whittington's. I wanted him to keep still until after this
hand was out. Then I'll be willin' to quit or go back to the old limit,
or keep right along with the lid off."

I glanced at Dick; an' talk about jerk-lightnin'! Well, I can't see yet
what kept Piker from gettin' scorched; but Jabez was in a good humor
again from lookin' at his royalty, so he turns to Dick an' sez, "Now,
Dick, Piker's company, you know, an' I reckon we'd better humor him.
What do you say?"

"Off goes the lid," sez Dick.

They bet around awhile longer until nearly all of Dick's money was in
the pot an' Jabez had a neat little pile of checks representin' him.
Then Dick bet his balance an' called. We all laid down with a satisfied
grin. Jabez had queens full on jacks, Piker had three bullets an' a
team o' ten-spots; Dick had a royal straight flush, an' I had a nervous
chill. Three aristocratic fulls an' a royal straight! Nobody spoke, an'
the money stayed where it was, in the center of the table. Finally the
of man sez, makin' an effort to speak cordial, "Well, I've had enough
for one evenin', I guess I'll quit."

"Now, boys," sez Dick, in a low, husky voice, "I don't believe in
gamblin'. I only went into this to be sociable, an' I want you all to
take your money back."

We sat an' looked at Dick with our eyes poppin' out, 'cause that wasn't
our way o' playin' the game in that neighborhood. Suddenly the ol' man
whirled an' glared at Piker. "What the hell do you mean by pressin' my
toe?" he growls between his set teeth. "This is the fourth time you've
done it to-night."

Piker seemed confused, an' mumbled an' stammered, an' couldn't hardly
speak at all. "It ain't my custom to play with strangers," sez Jabez,
an' he was fast gettin' into the dangerous stage, "but you are my
guest. I won't take my money back, but if Dick is willin', I'll write
him a check for yours an' you can take your condemned filthy gold an'
get out o' here."

"I ain't askin' my money back," sez Piker. "I'm game, I am; but I can't
savvy this scheme o' dividin' up after the game." He paused a second,
an' then sez clear an' distinct, "This ain't exactly the way 'at Silver
Dick used to play the game when he made a business of it."

Piker leaned back an' stared at Dic