“On the draw George took two cards, Harry two, and Eli one. The rest of us took three each, but as none of us bettered his pair, we dropped our cards, leaving the three to fight it out. George bet fifty, and Eli, who sat next, raised it fifty. Harry came in and raised it ten. It looked a little queer, but I remembered then that Harry had been playing more moderately than any of the rest of us all the evening. George put up fifty more, and Eli made good. He had filled a small flush, but sitting between two raisers he didn’t care to play too hard on it. Harry raised it ten again, and George showed his excitement plainly. “‘A hundred better,’ he almost shouted, putting up the money. “Eli laid his hand on the table, but Harry put up a hundred and ten. “‘Another hundred,’ said George, now fairly trembling. “‘Ten more,’ said Harry, as cool as ever. “‘Five hundred better,’ exclaimed George. “‘Ten more.’ “‘A thousand better,’ said George, and Harry hesitated. “‘I have you beaten, George,’ he said, after a moment, ‘but I don’t want to play any higher. This is getting altogether too heavy for our party. I’ll call you.’ “‘It isn’t too heavy for me,’ said George, almost insultingly. ‘I’ll go you another thousand on my hand if you will stand it.’ “‘No,’ said Harry, still as cool as possible. ‘I won’t go any higher. I have called you.’ “George laid down an ace full, and looked with confident expectation to see Harry surrender, but instead he showed down four eights. ‘I was pretty sure,’ he said quietly. “George’s face turned white, and we all saw that he was hard hit, though we didn’t suspect even then that it was so serious as it was. “‘I’ll have to give you a check for that last thousand,’ he said, faltering, for he had not put up the money on the last bet. We had always settled up before separating at night, but it was not unusual for checks to pass among us, though we had never had so much money up before. “‘That’s all right,’ said Harry, and to my surprise his voice trembled when he spoke. ‘The fact is,’ he continued after he had swallowed once or twice in the effort to get control of himself--‘the fact is, I’m not going to take your money, George. I have been playing this game for fun, and I don’t think I was doing you fellows any harm by playing with you, for I have always played square, and I’ve never taken any of your money to speak of; but the fact is, I have been a professional gambler for a year past, and I have been sailing under false colors. I don’t say that I wouldn’t do that anywhere else, but I wouldn’t do it among my old friends. Take back your money, George. I don’t believe you can afford to lose it, and I wouldn’t take it if you could.’ “This was sufficiently surprising, but what George said was even more so, to the rest of us, for we knew that he wasn’t above playing with professionals elsewhere.