Idaho -- Fiction; Ranch life -- Fiction; Western stories
Good Indian laughed aloud, spurred Keno into a run, and passed her with
a scurry of dust, a flash of white teeth and laughing black eyes, and a
wave of his free hand in adieu. He was still laughing when he overtook
the others, passed by the main group, and singled out Jack, his
particular chum. He refused to explain either his hurry or his mirth
further than to fling out a vague sentence about a race, and thereafter
he ambled contentedly along beside Jack in the lead, and told how he had
won a hundred and sixty dollars in a crap game the last time he was in
Shoshone, and how he had kept on until he had “quit ten dollars in
the hole.” The rest of the boys, catching a few words here and there,
crowded close, and left the two girls to themselves, while Good Indian
recounted in detail the fluctuations of the game; how he had seesawed
for an hour, winning and losing alternately; and how his luck had
changed suddenly just when he had made up his mind to play a five-dollar
gold piece he had in his hand and quit.
“I threw naturals three times in succession,” he said, “and let my bets
ride. Then I got Big Dick, made good, and threw another natural. I was
seeing those Spanish spurs and that peach of a headstall in Fernando's
by that time; seeing them on Keno and me--they're in the window yet,
Jack, and I went in when I first hit town and looked them over and
priced them; a hundred and fifty, just about what we guessed he'd
hold them at. And say, those conchos--you remember the size of 'em,
Jack?--they're solid silver, hammered out and engraved by hand. Those
Mexicans sure do turn out some fine work on their silver fixings!” He
felt in his pocket for a match.
“Pity I didn't let well enough alone,” he went on. “I had the price of
the outfit, and ten dollars over. But then I got hoggish. I thought I
stood a good chance of making seven lucky passes straight--I did once,
and I never got over it, I guess. I was going to pinch down to ten--but
I didn't; I let her ride. And SHOT CRAPS!”
He drew the match along the stamped saddle-skirt behind the cantle,
because that gave him a chance to steal a look behind him without being
caught in the act. Good, wide hat-brims have more uses than to shield
one's face from the sun. He saw that Evadna was riding in what looked
like a sulky silence beside her friend, but he felt no compunction for
what he had done; instead he was exhilarated as with some heady wine,
and he did not want to do any thinking about it--yet. He did not even
want to be near Evadna. He faced to the front, and lighted his cigarette
while he listened to the sympathetic chorus from the boys.
“What did you do then?” asked Gene.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account