minutes
before, might have been observed standing by his side, and stealthily
transferring something from his own fingers to those of the Frenchman.

This unexpected termination of the lottery led to a scene of terrific
excitement. Several seized hold of the bag,--jerking it out of the hand
of him who had hitherto been holding it. It was at once turned inside
out; when the red button fell upon the planking of the raft.

Most of the men were furious, and loudly declared that they had been
cheated,--some offering conjectures as to how the cheat had been
accomplished. The confederate of Le Gros--backed by the ruffian
himself--suggested that there might have been no deception about the
matter, but only a mistake made in the number of buttons originally
thrown into the bag. "Like enough,--damned like enough!"--urged Le
Gros's sharping partner; "there's been a button too many put into the
bag,--twenty-seven instead of twenty-six. That's how it's come about.
Well, as we all helped at the counting of 'em, therefore it's nobody's
fault in particular. We'll have to draw again, and the next time we can
be more careful."

As no one appeared able to contradict this hypothesis, it passed off,
with a number, as the correct one. Most of the men, however, felt sure
that a trick had been played; and the trick itself could be easily
conjectured. Some one of the drawers had procured a button similar to
those inside the bag; and holding this button, had simply inserted his
hand, and drawn it out again.

Out of twenty-six draws it would have been impossible to fix upon the
individual who had been guilty of the cheat, though there were not a few
who permitted their suspicions to fall on Le Gros himself. There had
been observed something peculiar in his mode of manipulation. He had
inserted his hand into the wallet with the fist closed; and had drawn it
out in similar fashion. This, with one or two other circumstances,
looked suspicious enough; but it was remembered that some others had
done the same; and as there was not enough of evidence to bring home the
infamous act to its perpetrator, no one appeared either able or willing
to risk making the accusation.

Yes, there _was_ one who had not yet declared himself; nor did he do so
until some time had elapsed after the final and disappointing draw made
by the master of the ceremonies. This man was Larry O'Gorman.

While the rest of the crew had been listening to the arguments