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Show I mtm TAKES 1 ; " TiON A HAND I, 'JM ROBERT j 7.' McBLAIR I SAVAGELY, old Adam Courtney twisted his cigar-yellowed moustache. mous-tache. From the parlor sofa, the muffled sobs of Diana, his shapely and lovely young daughter, expressed ex-pressed an unshakable defiance. He glared at her with all the anger a deep love would permit. "I I AM going to marry Jim Bailey," she chanted monotonously. "I don't care if he HASN'T got the money he ought to have to start in business. I don't care if he HAS only three thousand Instead of six." The slender legs kicked hysterically. hys-terically. A slipper flew across the room, "I LOVE him, doggone himl I LOVE him!" Grimly, Adam Courtney went for his hat and his heavy cane. Grimly he left the house. He knew where to find Jim Bailey. Barred from calling on Diana, he would be waiting at the club the big social and athletic club for her to join him for the dance tonight. In the old days on the West Coast, he thought angrily, a matter such as this might have been settled with a Trt? ow Dus'ness and money and con- Week's vention had overtaken over-taken him after Best his marriage, late r. . life. Fiction Diana was all he had, since the " young wife he adored had died in childbirth. Ever since that day, his only child had been his only Interest, taking the place of her mother before her. Never before this had she defied him, turned from his love to the love of someone else. As things stood tonight, to-night, however, he had lost her unless un-less somehow he could hold her back. Surely this called for desperate measures. As he stalked into the club, he spied the ruddy, muscular young object of his quest. In the black and white of dinner clothes, Jim Bailey sat watching a game in the busy card room. Jim rose, and the table fell silent, as the grim old tnan came up. "Jim Bailey," Adam Courtney thundered, "are you man enough to take a gamble?" Jim Bailey simply stared. "I understand you have three thousand in the savings bank," old Courtney said. "I'll put up two dollars dol-lars to every one of yours. Give you two to one on every bet. Six thousand thous-and to three thousand, table stakes. If you lose you will agree to leave my daughter alone." "And what If I win?" asked Jim Bailey. "Win?" Adam Courtney's bony face paled. "Win you marry her, Ir, of course." Jim Bailey hesitated, and the whole room stopped breathing. Everybody Ev-erybody understood the struggle that had been going on between him and Diana, on ,t'- ti Mm i .. Diana's father mi '.he uturi. 1'iulir ordinary circumstances, nt one would expect him to agree to risk losing his money and his hope of future happiness on the turn ot a 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!" lK X i The money In Jim's hand told her the rest. She ran to her father. The grim old man ignored her. "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 ..i ii j r (!! V i : ! . . . tii'ii. he puiheo a;i equi uii.w... U.rwi.rd. ' Then each drew cards. Jim Railej held up three cards and drew two Adam Courtney asked for but one 6 The old man looked at the card Quickly he pushed forward hi; whole remaining pile. THE spectators glanced at one an 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 th draw it seemed that Jim, with thre aces pat, had caught two queens Thus he had the highest possible full-house on this deal. But the ok man had caught another king, anc held four the winning hand. j Would Jim Bailey put up his whoh 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 thi old man hardly had held four-of-a kind to start with, and had drawr but one card, the odds were forty t one against his now having four-of a-kind or better. Suddenly, his fact no longer ruddy, Jim Bailey pushed his whole pile forward. "I call, sir," he said. He spreac out his hand. "I've got a full-house aces over queens." Then occurred one of those dis turbing interruptions which explair the new screens at the card roorr door. There was a cry and a com motion, and Diana, Adam Court ney's daughter, appeared in thi doorway, staring in at the players. She was dressed to go to the dance. Her hair was arranged in th style of twenty years ago. In a white satin dress which had be longed to her mother, she looked (a; an elderly member said) the spit ting image of Adam Courtney't dead wife. Old Adam Courtney glanced up stared, as at a ghost. Heaven onl knows what memory perhaps ot his and his wife's glowing early hap piness passed through his mind He drew a deep, slow breath. Hit cane dropped and clattered. Hi: white head disappeared beneath tht table as he retrieved the cane frorr the floor. This distraction lasted but a mo ment. Then Adam Courtney sat uj and faced Jim Bailey. Leaning awk wardly forward, his left hand heav on the table, the old man turned hi: own cards up, one by one. THE KING OF DIAMONDS "One!" the crowd breathed. THE KING OF HEARTS. "Twol" the crowd whispered. THE KING OF CLUBS. "Three!" the crowd murmured. mur-mured. Then he turned Tilt QUEEN OF DIAMONDS. It was his last card. Not only had he failed to catch Die 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 worthies: hand. The grim old man had lost! Jim Bailey hod won, not only the old man's three thousand, but his 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 framed in the doorway. She touched Jim's arm and hesitated. hesi-tated. Ot course she had been told what was up. The money in Jim's hand told her the rest. She ran tc 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 lor marriage, and independence. Old Adam Courtney sat staring at his bony left hand flat on the table. I For a moment his shoulders seemed to sag. Then he straightened, andj tilted a quizzical, twinkling look ur. ! at the circle of staring faces. j "I knew what she was wishing."; he said. "I'm an old fool, I expect.". He lifted his left hand. There be-1 neath it, face up on the table, lay Um mlislng king of spades. |