Bankruptcy -- Fiction; Gold mines and mining -- Alaska -- Fiction; Oakland (Calif.) -- Fiction; Western stories; Women pioneers -- Fiction
"Dig in; you're sure good," was Daylight's answer. "And while we're
about it, I may mention casual that I got twenty thousand in Mac's
safe, there, and there's twenty thousand more in the ground on
Moosehide. You know the ground, Campbell. Is they that-all in the
dirt?"
"There sure is, Daylight."
"How much does it cost now?" Kearns asked.
"Two thousand to see."
"We'll sure hump you if you-all come in," Daylight warned him.
"It's an almighty good hunch," Kearns said, adding his slip for two
thousand to the growing heap. "I can feel her crawlin' up and down my
back."
"I ain't got a hunch, but I got a tolerable likeable hand," Campbell
announced, as he slid in his slip; "but it's not a raising hand."
"Mine is," Daylight paused and wrote. "I see that thousand and raise
her the same old thousand."
The Virgin, standing behind him, then did what a man's best friend was
not privileged to do. Reaching over Daylight's shoulder, she picked up
his hand and read it, at the same time shielding the faces of the five
cards close to his chest. What she saw were three queens and a pair of
eights, but nobody guessed what she saw. Every player's eyes were on
her face as she scanned the cards, but no sign did she give. Her
features might have been carved from ice, for her expression was
precisely the same before, during, and after. Not a muscle quivered;
nor was there the slightest dilation of a nostril, nor the slightest
increase of light in the eyes. She laid the hand face down again on
the table, and slowly the lingering eyes withdrew from her, having
learned nothing.
MacDonald smiled benevolently. "I see you, Daylight, and I hump this
time for two thousand. How's that hunch, Jack?"
"Still a-crawling, Mac. You got me now, but that hunch is a
rip-snorter persuadin' sort of a critter, and it's my plain duty to
ride it. I call for three thousand. And I got another hunch:
Daylight's going to call, too."
"He sure is," Daylight agreed, after Campbell had thrown up his hand.
"He knows when he's up against it, and he plays accordin'. I see that
two thousand, and then I'll see the draw."
In a dead silence, save for the low voices of the three players, the
draw was made. Thirty-four thousand dollars were already in the pot,
and the play possibly not half over. To the Virgin's amazement,
Daylight held up his three queens, discarding his eights and calling
for two cards. And this time not even she dared look at what he had
drawn. She knew her limit of control. Nor did he look. The two new
cards lay face down on the table where they had been dealt to him.
"Cards?" Kearns asked of MacDonald.
"Got enough," was the reply.
"You can draw if you want to, you know," Kearns warned him.
"Nope; this'll do me."
Kearns himself drew two cards, but did not look at them.
Still Harnish let his cards lie.
"I never bet in the teeth of a pat hand," he said slowly, looking at
the saloon-keeper. "You-all start her rolling, Mac."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account