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Show and Diana, on the one hand, and Diana's father on the other. Under ! ordinary circumstances, no one j would expect him to agree to risk ! losing his money and his hope of I future happiness on the turn of a j card. But suddenly it had dawned on everybody that this situation was not ordinary. Only two weeks before, the old man had caned a newspaper editor who had intimated that Adam Courtney, Court-ney, in the old days on the Coast, had been a professional gambler! No one believed a word of the accusation. accu-sation. But now, to refuse publicly to play would tell the world you believed be-lieved what the editor had written, and were afraid of being rooked. Jim Bailey wet his lips. "Do you want to play with chips, sir, or cash? but even money!" looked at his cards. Without hesiti. tion, he pushed an equul anioun forward. Then each drew cards. Jim Baile held up three cards and drew two Adam Courtney asked for but one The old man looked at the card Quickly he pushed forward nil whole remaining pile. THE spectators glanced at one an 1 other. Some thought they had glimpsed the two hands. To star with, as they afterward explained Jim Bailey had held three aces; Adam Courtney three kings. On thi draw it seemed that Jim, with threi aces pat, had caught two queens Thus he had the highest possibh full-house on this deal. But the ole man had caught another king, anc held four the winning hand. Would Jim Bailev nut un his whnli Til TAKES AllON a hand I MlRNER ROBERT j! H McBLAIR I HgELY old Adam Courtney Kted his cigar-yellowed mous-Jwrum mous-Jwrum the parlor sofa, the fB,,0bs of Diana, his shapely aKvely young daughter, ex-?'B ex-?'B an unshakable defiance. He eB at her witn a11 the an8er a 'eve would Permit- 'all AM going t0 marry Jlm iM" the chanted monotonously. M'tcare if he HASN'T got the I She ought to have to start in lBis. I don't care If he HAS ":hrte thousand Instead of slender legs kicked hys- BT A slipper flew across the "I LOVE him, doggone him! I-v Adam Courtney went for Wcand his heavy cane. Grimly Ktbe house. He knew where to ; BnBocy. Barred from calling ana, he would be waiting at Kb the big social and athletic 'aKr her to join him for the Be old days on the West Coast, -Kaght angrily, a matter such . T as this might have 'H 1 I been settled with a L. 45. Now business i ",1S and money and con-fftek's con-fftek's vention had over-l' over-l' taken him after L Jjt his marriage, late Btion Diana was all he ,1 h a d, s i n c e t h e young wife he Bhad died in childbirth. Ever i that day, his only child had Bs only Interest, taking the lot her mother before her. B before this had she defied Bmed from his love to the love Beone else. As things stood to-Bhowever, to-Bhowever, he had lost her un-omehow un-omehow I16 could hold her The money in Jim's hand told her the rest. She ran to her father. The grim old man ignored her. this called for desperate res. As he stalked into the ie spied the ruddy, muscular object of his quest. In the ind white of dinner clothes, aJey sat watching a game in sy card room. Jim rose, and :ie fell silent, as the grim old LT.e up. i Bailey," Adam Courtney red, "are you man enough to jamble?" Bailey simply stared, inderstand you have three r.d in the savings bank," old ty said. "I'll put up two dol-every dol-every one of yours. Give ybu one on every bet. Six thous-three thous-three thousand, table stakes, lose you will agree to leave ;ghter alone." 1 what if I win?" asked Jim i?" Adam Courtney's bony sled. "Win you marry her, course." Bailey hesitated, and the room stopped breathing. Ev-7 Ev-7 understood the struggle id been going on between him "Cash!" said Adam Courtney grimly. Next evening, each bearing his stake of three thousand dollars, they took their seats in the card room. "Draw poker," announced Adam Courtney, tearing open the pack. "Table stakes. And," he leaned across the table and looked Jim Bailey in the eye, "a gentleman's agreement!" "Okay," Jim Bailey said. "Will you cut, sir?" Open gambling was not permitted in the club. But what employee would dare stop this? Like wildfire the news spread. Members hurried in just in time to see the old man lose five hundred dollars on a full house, against Jim Bailey's four tens. At first, luck seemed to favor Jim Bailey. But presently the calm, grim old man began to win. Then the old man lost three large bets. The stacks of money stood about even again each three thousand thou-sand dollars. Jim Bailey dealt. Adam Courtney looked at his cards. He counted out five hundred dollars. Jim Bailey pile and call the old man's bet? II he did, the game was over. He would lose his money, and Diana, too. Jim Bailey's hand shook as he riffled his remaining pile. Since the old man hardly had held four-of-a-kind to start with, and had drawn but one card, the odds were forty tc one against his now having four-of-a-kind or better. Suddenly, his face no longer ruddy, Jim Bailey pushed his whole pile forward. "I call, sir," he said. He spread out his hand. "I've got a full-house aces over queens." Then occurred one of those disturbing dis-turbing interruptions which explain the new screens at the card room door. There was a cry and a commotion, com-motion, and Diana, Adam Courtney's Court-ney's daughter, appeared in the doorway, staring in at the players. She was dressed to go to the dance. Her hair was arranged in the style of twenty years ago. In a white satin dress which had belonged be-longed to her mother, she looked (as an elderly member said) the spitting spit-ting image of Adam Courtney's dead wife. Old Adam Courtney glanced up, stared, as at a ghost. Heaven only knows what memory perhaps ol his and his wife's glowing early happiness hap-piness passed through his mind. He drew a deep, slow breath. His cane dropped and clattered. His white head disappeared beneath ths table as he retrieved the cane from the floor. This distraction lasted but a moment. mo-ment. Then Adam Courtney sat up and faced Jim Bailey. Leaning awkwardly awk-wardly forward, his left hand heavj on the table, the old man turned nil own cards up, one by one. THE KING OF DIAMONDS "One!" the crowd breathed. THE KING OF HEARTS. "Two!" the crowd whispered. THE KING OF CLUBS. "Three!" the crowd murmured. mur-mured. Then he turned THE QUEEN OF DIAMONDS. It was his last card. Not only had he failed to catct the king of spades on the draw, apparently ap-parently he had drawn but one card, when he should have drawn two. He held only four cards, a worthless hand. The grim old man had lost! Jim Bailey had won, not only the old man's three thousand, but his I daughter. Jim Bailey gathered in all the money. He stood up, holding it in his ! hand. Everyone watched Adam: Courtney's daughter as Jim Bailey; crossed to where she stood trainee in the doorway. She touched Jim's arm and hesi-to. hesi-to. tod. Of course she had been told what was up. The money in Jim's j hand told her the rest. She ran tcj her father. The grim old man Ignored Ig-nored her. She put her arm around him and kissed him full on the yellow yel-low stain in his white moustache. He still ignored her. She turned and ran back to Jim. Hand in hand, the two young people peo-ple left the club. Their motor roared away, seemingly with a triumphant note that spoke of money enough for a business, and for marriage, and independence. Old Adam Courtney sat staring at his bony left hand flat on the table. For a moment his shoulders seemed to sag. Then he straightened, and tilted a quizzical, twinkling look up at the circle of staring faces. "I knew what she was wishing," he said. "I'm an old fool, I expect." He lifted his left hand. There beneath be-neath it, face up on the table, lay tbo missing king of spades. |