“The others were astounded, but he had made the play and there was only the opener to talk. He counted the money. It was eleven hundred and odd dollars. Then he counted his own. He had only five hundred with him, and he began to sputter. “‘If you’ll take a check,’ he began, but Overland Jack stopped him. “‘No checks,’ he said excitedly. ‘This is table stakes.’ “‘Well, if you’ll wait till I go downstairs and----’ “‘Oh, yes,’ sneered Overland Jack. ‘Go out of the room and gather up four of a kind, I suppose.’ “And there was more talk that resulted in the opener getting angry for fair and calling the bet for the amount of his pile. He slammed down his four deuces as he did so and exclaimed: ‘There! Is that good, or do you think you have drawn the other two queens?’ “‘Well, I don’t know,’ drawled Overland Jack. ‘Maybe I have. Let’s see,’ and he turned over two queens and an ace. “Everybody else in the room saw the point, but the opener was furious. ‘They’re not good,’ he shouted. ‘You never got that hand honestly.’ “‘Oh, yes, they’re good,’ said Overland Jack, with still more of a drawl. ‘Four of a kind is good--when you get ’em out of the pack.’ “There was a shout of laughter as the opener grew purple with rage, and Overland Jack raked in the pot. “That was only one of his adventures in this city. He had a number, and naturally made a good many enemies, but, as in this case, he made more friends than foes, so that he was really a popular man despite the fact that he was known to be a sharper. “Crooked poker and brace faro were his favorite games, but he was also a billiard sharp, who gave pointers as well as points to the many others of that ilk who made a living around the billiard saloons in those days. One of the first places where he distinguished himself was in Chris Conner’s place in Fourteenth Street, where there were always gentlemen of leisure ready to play almost anybody for a small bet or a large one, provided they could settle the odds. Overland Jack always had confederates in the room ready to make side bets while he was playing, and he was pretty sure to get one or two himself in addition to the nominal stakes of the game. There was one young fellow who played in Conner’s place a great deal who really played a marvelous game, and was as steady as a rock. Conner thought he couldn’t be beaten if the odds were fixed anywhere near right, so Overland Jack studied his play for a couple of nights and then sailed in himself. “He acted the usual part of a fairly skilful amateur excited with the game and anxious to display his skill and win or lose his money, and managed, without trouble, to get himself picked up as a sucker by this particular fellow. Conner himself settled the odds after seeing the stranger play, and bet considerable money himself on the outside, but Overland Jack won, hands down.