Argosy All-Story Weekly, March 15, 1924 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

646 ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. Corvan delighted in the exhilaration of a game for high stakes. This evening the stakes promised to rise unusually high, for at Corvan’s left sat Charlie Broderick, scion of millions, and a _ Sportsman among sports. Welsh’s card room was no place for a piker this evening, and as the assembled: players sat waiting for their host to deal, the array of wealth in the center of the table proved it. In the black and white formality of din- ner clothes, Corvan appeared among these sporting men as more than ever the prince. He sat straight in his chair, and, as Welsh dealt the cards, lazily watched the move- . ments of the gambler’s fingers. And as Corvan watched the movement of his fin- gers, Welsh, inspired by the generous im- pulses of friendship and by the size of the pot, dealt Corvan a carefully chosen but crooked hand. - Corvan did not betray by the movement of a muscle the dismay and.surprise which - Welsh’s action caused him, yet he saw the play of those twinkling fingers as distinctly . as if they had moved for him with the ana- lytical slowness of the accelerated cinema camera. -He knew that the cards which Jay face down on the table before him were a ‘winning hand, and he knew that that win- ning hand was crooked. Wade had said that in all Corvan’s ca- reer ‘he had never fallen foul of the law. This was due not merely to the fact that the Great Corvan in those days of his as- _cendancy seldom transgressed the law, and never transgressed it to an extent which would not have made it difficult for the most astute lawyer to prove anything against him; but it was due, too, to a pe- culiar streak in the man’s make up which abhorred an.unfair play. Tn his nefarious activities, which often in- volved many thousands of dollars, he vic- timized only those souls whose avarice per- mitted him to persuade them that they might profit by apparent advantages to be gained over himself or others. Corvan had never played:a crooked hand in his life. He was not capable of playing: one. So Corvan glanced at this well dealt hand, found his suspicion to be truth, eyed: keenly the facés of the six sportsmen who surrounded him,- and made instantly the decision which was to bring tragedy and confusion on its heels. . Meeting Welsh’s eye for the fraction of a second, he slapped down his hand and passed it. Immediately a voice snarled into his ear’ and a plump hand crossed his left elbow to clutch at the cards he had re- jected. ° . Charlie Broderick, too, had detected something peculiar in the manner of Welsh’s deal. His suspicion had not been abated by- Corvan’s almost imperceptible pause before passing up his hand, and it had been confirmed by the understanding look which had flashed between Corvan and the gambler. So he’ stretched forth his arm to call a show down. “By God!” he snarled, “that’s a crooked hand, Welsh!” Corvan snatched for the cards, but Char- lie had been quicker. He swept them up from the table and gloated loudly, on his feet. “ You don’t throw down a hand like that every day!” he cried. But what that hand was, the other five Sportsmen were never to know, for if Char- lie was quick, Welsh was quick as well. In the immediate disturbance which followed . Charlie’s grab, he pounced upon the squeal- er and, even as Broderick spoke, snatched the cards from his hand and flung them to the floor where they were lost among the . rest of the pack which the gambler had cunningly thrown- down as he arose. Broderick, incensed, hurled himself upon Welsh, and Corvan, who had sought to drag ‘Welsh back, received the brunt of the at- tack. The other five sportsmen, seeing that the moment feared most by all who endeav- or to cover sportsmanship with a cloak of respectability was now upon them, threw themselves into the conflict with the inten- tion of preserving peace and reputation. Corvan very coolly hurled his opponent from him and, finding himself then in the — grasp of two bulky sportsmen, struggled to free himself. While he struggled he saw Broderick close with. Welsh; and saw: the table go over before their conflict. ° . - “Let go! You fools,” he cried... “ Get them apart!” | GOMIIG oOo <SE C@