Adventure, December 3, 1920 — page 132: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

122 “These suits.” Slim tapped his hand. “And these—these suit; and you’re called. McGowan dropped the deck upon the table. “And now, all cards being out and all money bet, this concludes the evening’s entertainment for one of us. What have you?” A double click click obtruded upon his consciousness and old Andy’s face, with eyes deadly as a basilisk’s swam into his ken. And below them, no whit less deadly, glared the muzzle of the heavy gun. Old Andy spoke. “The gentleman’s called ye, Slim. He’s bet ye that new cyanide-process he was a-fixin’ fer to sell to the Twin Peaks, alias the deed to the Bellerdonner. Show him what ye got.” Slim dropped his cards one by one upon the table. But where there should have fallen the four nines and the seven McGowan had dealt him, there dropped the ace, king, queen, jack and ten—the royal flush of spades. Outside the raucus tooting of the “shawt- line’ announced imminent departure. The clock above the bar struck six. McGowan licked a tongue across his dry lips. Slim’s voice broke the spell. He laid his hand upon his cards. “Them’s mine,” he announced. “Kin ye beat ’em?” « , no!” McGowan’s chair scraped back. McGowan went thence. $ A See ee: SEEN a piece in the paper where they wanted seamen. ‘That’s how it started. My pay from old Duff of the Caramao was nigh cleaned out—a _ wicked bird, Duff, and a bad crate, that Caramao. Fore and aft she stunk like bilges and rolled twenty- five degrees on a blasted mill-pond. And he stood on her rickety bridge, a beautiful Colt Adventure AY “SHUCKS,” <Andy’s kindly drawl a's punctured the tensity as a pin does a <j toy balloon. A tremendous sigh went up from the crowd. “Why, the durn short-cyard a-tryin’ to come it over me an’ Slim that-a-way. Why, we seen him in Jack’s place down to Cheyenne when he trimmed old Bill Brady out’n the Bellerdonner not three hours after Bill paid us fo’ thousan’ good dollars fer her. Why, the gall of him a-comin’ after the Florydory this a-way!”’ “But lissen here, Slim.” Doubt of the play was strong in Red’s mind. “Lissen; did that bal’ face idjit deal you a pat royal and then try to run ye?” “Shucks, naw.” Slim’s grin was fearful and wonderful. “I’ve had that royal in my pocket ever since Andy come in. Y’see, I seen the feller when he filled his full off’n the bettom ag’in a flush he let me fill, so I give Andy the high sign an’ Andy, he pirooted aroun’ in an- other deck with backs like this here’n an’ picked me out a hand I could kind o’ lay away fer ee-mergencies. You jest seen the ee-mergency.” “Wonder what he had, hisself,”” Red mused. He slid a finger under McGowan’s cards and flipped them over, face up. Fanwise on the table lay the ace, king, queen, jack and ten McGowan’s hand was the royal flush of apades! Plum Duff Kennel by Panay Kerapacet 45 in his fist, and popped at whosoever in the black gang showed his head over the engine- room grating. Well, as I was saying, my stuff from that hitch was getting light in pocket and the city © dust was clawing my throat. But be split if I wanted. ‘to ship in no fire-room stoke-hold again, Duff or no Duff. So when I seen this S com CORMIEOO i ss iS . an . , re a ae ae me,