"Not for him. He used to be a famous climber; but he has given it up since he waxed fat and prosperous. I have met him once or twice at St. Moritz in the winter. Otherwise, he usually shows up in the fashionable resorts in August,--Ostend, or Trouville, or, if he is livery, Vichy or Aix-les-Bains,--anywhere but this quiet spot. Bower likes excitement too. He often opens a thousand pound bank at baccarat, whereas people are shocked in Maloja at seeing Hare play bridge at tenpence a hundred." "I leave it, partner," broke in the vicar, to whom the game was the thing. "No trumps," said Spencer, without giving the least heed to his cards. It was true his eyes were resting on the ace, king, and queen of spades; but his mind was tortured by the belief that by his fantastic conceit in sending Helen to this Alpine fastness he had delivered her bound to the vultures. "Double no trumps," said Dunston, gloating over the possession of a long suit of hearts and three aces. Hare looked anxious, and Spencer suddenly awoke to the situation. "Satisfied," he said. Holt led the three of hearts, and Spencer spread his cards on the table with the gravity of a Sioux chief. In addition to the three high spades he held six others. "Really!" gasped the parson, "a most remarkable declaration!" Yet there was an agitated triumph in his voice that was not pleasant hearing for Dunston, who took the trick with the ace of hearts and led the lowest of a sequence to the queen. "Got him!" panted Hare, producing the king. The rest was easy. The vicar played a small spade and scored ninety-six points without any further risk. "It is magnificent; but it is not bridge," said the man from Pittsburg. Dunston simply glowered. "Partner," demanded Hare timidly, "may I ask why you called 'no trumps' on a hand like that?" "Thought I would give you a chance of distinguishing yourself," replied Spencer. "Besides, that sort of thing rattles your opponents at the beginning of a game. Keep your nerve now, _padre_, and you have 'em in a cleft stick." As it happened, Holt made a "no trump" declaration on a very strong hand; but Spencer held seven clubs headed by the ace and king. He doubled. Holt redoubled. Spencer doubled again. Hare flushed somewhat. "Allow me to say that I am very fond of bridge; but I cannot take part in a game that savors of gambling, even for low stakes," he broke in. "Shall we let her go at forty-eight points a trick?" Spencer asked. "Yep!" snapped Holt. "Got all the clubs?" "Not all--sufficient, perhaps." He played the ace. Dunston laid the queen and knave on the table. Spencer scored the winning trick before his adversary obtained an opening. "You have a backbone of cast steel," commented Dunston, who was an iron-master. "Do you play baccarat?" he went on, with curious eagerness. "I regret to state that my education was completed in a Western mining camp."