and when they got through breakfast they
all got with him, and they told him finally they would give him
half they had lost if he would get it back. So he saw a big opening,
and concluded to make a big bluff to get the money. He came to me
as I was standing by the office, and said, "Are you the man who
won all the money and diamonds last night?" I told him I was the
man. He said, "You must give it back--every cent." That made me
laugh, and I think it made him mad, for he pulled back his coat
and showed me his badge. Well, I thought he was as good a sucker
as any of the rest, or he would not make such a break as that; and
when he spoke of my swindling them, I said to him, "Now, sir, I
will show you just how I beat those fellows;" and I pulled out
three cards, and said, "If you will walk over to the table, I will
show you; then if you think there is any swindle about it, I will
refund every dollar." He said, "All right." I commenced to play
them over, and had him guessing lively, when up stepped the capper
and took a look at the cards, and said, "I will bet you $500 I can
turn the king." He put up the $500, and did not turn the card; so
he and the detective began to whisper to each other, the capper
telling him about a spot that was on the right card. Then he made
a proposition to go me $500 more. I put up the money to cover his,
and he turned the right card, took his money and walked away from
the game. Then the detective said, "I will bet you $50 myself."
I put up. He laid up $50 and turned the right card. One of the
bystanders spoke up and said, "He is only baiting you along till
he gets a big bet." I replied, "You are about right." He said,
"I will bet you $50 once more." So I put up the amount, and he
turned the winning card again. So up stepped the capper and said,
"I will bet you $1,000 that I can turn it." "That is just the kind
of a bet I like to get." I put up $1,000, and he put up his. Just
as he was going to turn, he got the detective by the collar and
got his advice. So the detective told him which one it was. "Are
you sure?" said the capper. "No, not sure when he gets a big bet
like that; but I think so." You see, he had been told I was only
baiting for a big bet. Well, the result was, the capper won the
bet, and that made the detective swell up like a toad. He would
not listen to any of the outsiders' talk any more, but offered to
bet $200. I said, "If that is all the money you