“The planter’s flush was king high, so he saw it, but didn’t raise, an’ the gambler raised it five hundred, thinking that Pete would drop out. ‘That’s more than your threes are worth, I reckon,’ he said, with a sneer, but Pete never answered him. He studied his cards awhile longer and then said, pretty slow, ‘I haven’t got the cash to see you, but I’ve got the deeds to some property here that’s pretty valuable, an’ if you’ll take that for security, I’ll raise you a thousand.’ “He pulled some law papers out of his pocket as he spoke and laid them on the table, but the gambler spoke up, very nasty, an’ says: ‘I ain’t buyin’ no property without looking at it, an’ money is the on’y thing that talks in this game.’ “Pete looked at the planter, but he shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t mind as far as I am concerned,’ he said, ‘but there is an objection made. I don’t see how I can help you.’ “‘Very well,’ says Pete, pretending to look troubled, ‘then I’ll have to ask for a few minutes’ time till I can get some money to play with. Sam,’ he says to the nigger that was bringing them drinks, ‘take these papers over to Mr. Stevens an’ ask him if he will loan me ten thousand dollars on them.’ “Then there was a little wrangle. The other gambler who had dropped out objected to the delay, but the two planters spoke up for Pete and the gambler who held the full house said he was willin’ to wait while the gentleman got some more money, as he was goin’ to win it anyhow, so Sam went over to Mr. Stevens’s house. Stevens bein’ the president of our bank an’ a gentleman with proper sporting habits. “Some of us that was lookin’ on was guessin’ for fair. We never knowed o’ Pete havin’ no property, an’ we thought he was bluffin’, but we couldn’t see just how he reckoned he could work it, or what he expected to do. I says to myself, ‘I reckon he’s caught that royal flush, but what this move means is more’n I know.’ Anyhow, there warn’t nothin’ to do but wait, an’ I waited as all the others did, for it looked as if there’d be some fun. “Pretty soon Mr. Stevens came back with the nigger, an’ says, ‘What’s this mean, Pete? The nigger says you want to borrow ten thousand dollars.’ “‘Yes, I do,’ says Pete. “‘Well,’ says Stevens, ‘you can have the money on these deeds, of course, if you’ll come to the bank to-morrow, but you--’ “‘I want it now,’ says Pete, interruptin’, an’ as he spoke he picked up his cards from the table where they had been lying, an’ holdin’ ’em kind o’ careless, just so that Stevens could see ’em, but pretendin’ not to notice that they could be seen. “‘Oh!’ says Stevens, ‘you want the money to play with, do you? But certainly you ain’t goin’ to bet on that hand?’ “‘You’ll oblige me,’ says Pete, pretendin’ to get in a terrible rage, ‘by sayin’ nothin’ about my hand. It may not be the strongest hand in the deck, but it’s the best one out. Besides, it’s my own business what I do with the money. The question is whether you’ll let me have it.’