Beadle's Dime Library No. 391 — page 15: what you’re looking at

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

. Kate Scott, the Decoy Detective. 15 in Van Tromp’s hand on top of Alcibiades’s wager. J ‘“There’s your money covered, the bet is made, and now I’m your man 4s soon as you like,” he continued, rising as he spoke. The rest followed his example. ‘‘ Hang me if I don’t believe that you are go- ing to collar that fifty!” exclaimed the hopeful scion of the Grimgriskin line, annoyed at the loss of his foolish wager and yet delighted that he had forced Andrews into a game. Like many another man of like caliber, Alci- biades flattered himself that he was a ‘“ card- sharper,” and being satisfied that the host would prove to be a pigeon worth the plucking he had deliberately planned to draw him into gambling so he would be able to fleece him. Oh, sacred hospitality how thou art some- times insulted! ‘Yes, yes, as you elegantly and tersely put it, I'm going to ‘ collar’ this fifty sure, whether I succeed in getting any more or not,” Andrews remarked, leading the way into a snug apart- ment fitted up for a smoking-room at the New York end of the boat-house. Andrews lit the gas, drew down the curtains, at the same time requesting his guests to help themselves to chairs. There was a square table in the center of the apartment which was exactly the thing required for the game. ‘‘Bgad, I forgot the cards!” exclaimed An- drews, suddenly. ‘‘We can’t very well play without the pasteboards. I must have some up at the house though.” ‘‘ ve got half a dozen packs in my pocket,” young pone ome remarked, in a rather sheep- ish way, and then from his coat-tail pocket he drew out a neatly done up package. ‘You see, | thought you might not havea stock on hand down here and so J laid in a sup- ply. in the city,” he explained. he dudes looked at each other. If they had not been previously warned by Andrews in re- gard to the peculiarities of the young man, they most certainly would have believed that by mistake they bad fallen in with some regular card-sharper who went about with the painted pictures in his pocket seeking whom he might devour. ‘They are all square, gents. I give you m word of honor on that,” Alcibiades added, earnestly. ‘Certainly, of course,” Andrews remarked, in his easy way. ‘*T spoke, you see, because I didn’t know but what you might think I was trying to put up some sort of a game on you—trying to ring in a cold deal—marked cards or something of that sort,” young Grimgriskin explained, in a lame sort of way. ‘“My dear fellow, I am sure I should never have even dreamed of such a thing!” the host replied. ‘‘Only a low, miserable, thieving ras- cal would attempt such a trick as that. Among gentlemen an act of the kind would be an im- possibility.” Alcibiades looked a little dubious at this. In his experience he had discovered that the ‘* sentlemen ” whom he had been accustomed to associate with, would not only jump at a chance to perform so skillful an operation, but if they succeeded, would afterward boast of it as if they had accomplished a meritorious act. ‘* Well, I didn’t know,” the young man ob- served. ‘‘Of course I wouldn’t do such a thing, but I thought, maybe, that some of you might be a leetle suspicious.” ‘*Oh, no!” exclaimed Andrews. ** Certainly not,” said Van Tromp. ‘* My dear sir, we wovuldn’t be guilty of think- ing of such a thing for the world,” Clinton hastened to remark, But as the two dudes spoke each had caught the eye of the other, and from the peculiar ex- P on therein, judged that their opinion in regard to the hope of the Grimgriskin line was exactly the same, and the words they uttered did not in the least express it. Both believed the young man to be a rascal of the meanest degree, who would not hesitate at any trick to serve his end, if there was a pros- pect of doing it without being detected. Alcibiades had laid the package upén the table and Andrews opened the wrapper and took out the cards, ‘*T don’t know much about cards,” the host remarked, as he removed the individual wrap- te from a couple of the packs and pushed em toward the two dudes, ‘Here, you gentlemen are experts in this sort + thing, believe, ar’n’t these the regular arti- cles They were the common “‘star-backed ” steam- t cards, and were all right, as far as the dudes could see, and they said so. Well, here’s for you, then!” and Andrews took up one of the s and commenced to shuffle the cards, ‘Van Tromp, have the kind- ness to hand that hundred over to me. It’s mine, I believe.” ‘* All right!” Alcibiades exclaimed, ‘‘ but T'll skin you out of it, and a few thousand to boot, before you are an hour older.” “Oh, it’s to be thousands, eh?’ said the host. “You bet! That’s the kind of a manI am! No twopenny game for me, Fix the ante at a hundred—” ‘* And the limit?” Andrews asked. ‘* No limit at all till you’re bu’sted!” Alcibiades cried. ‘‘ Well, well, you are going in wholesale! Excuse the question, but are you financially situated to stand such a racket?” the host in- quired. ‘You can bet high on that!” Alcibiades re- plied, triumphantly. ‘‘ The old man came down with a thousand to-day, my quarterly allow- ance, then the old woman tipped me a couple of thousand more to square off some urgent credit- ors, whom I pretended were after me, and, in addition, I struck my beautiful, but idiotic sis- ter, for five thousand to invest in a paying speculation, and I reckon that a game of poker with such a man as I am to manipulate the cards is about as good a thing as a fellow can scare up nowadays. So, you see, I am well- heeled, and you can skin me out of eight thousand dollars, if you can play poker better than I can. ‘You are just trying to scare us, I guess,” Andrews said, with a laugh, ‘‘ but we are going for you for all we know; so get your money ready, gentlemen, and we’ll cut for deal.” CHAPTER XXII. A MAGNANIMOUS OFFER, YounG Grimgriskin cut first, and he triumph- antly displayed the king of spades. ‘* How is that for high?’ he exclaimed. ‘I'll bet five to one that king captures the deal,” ‘* Pll have to take you up on that,” Andrews said. ‘‘I can’t really allow a Westerner to frighten us New Yorkers clear out of our boots, How will you have it, in hundreds?” ‘* No, thousands! I’m in for pig play to-night, I want you to understand!” Alcibiades exclaimed, boastfully. ‘*Put up your money,” was Andrews’s quiet rejoinder. he young man counted out five thousand dollars and placed it on the table, Andrews laid two five hundred dollar notes on the top of the pile. ‘*T think, my dear Grimgriskin, that you were rather rash in making that bet,” the host ob- served. ‘The odds are not warranted by the state of affairs. There are three of us yet to cut, and there are seven cards in the pack that will either tie or beat your xin a ‘*Oh, you’re one of the calculating gamblers, I see!” observed Alcibiades, with a sneer. ‘* Yes, I generally try to use my wits to the best advantage in any enterprise in which I may become engaged, card-playing not ex- ce = k I’ve always noticed that the fellows who are so smart in calculating are generally the ones who come out at the little end of the horn,” Alcibiades replied, ‘‘I never knew any gam- bler who played according to a system who didn’t go broke at the end. ‘* My dear boy, I’m not posted in regard to that sort of thing,” Andrews remarked. ‘‘ My acquaintance with gamblers and their ways is extremely limited. But whether in card-play- ing or anything else, I think that calculation and science will beat bluff and dumb-luck in the long run. ** But come, cut, gentlemen. Grimgriskin is anxious to rake in my thousand.” Van Tromp cut next, and displayed a ten- t ‘* Aha!” cried the millionaire’s son, in high delight, ‘‘ you’ll have to do a heap better than that to beat me!” ‘* By Jove! my deah fellow, you are giving us as much talk as a boy over a game of marbles!” exclaimed Van Tromp, nettled by the boastful ways of the other. Clinton cut and displayed a queen. A whistle escaped from the lips of Alcibi- ades. ‘‘ Hang me if that wasn’t a close shave!” he cried, But the grin of exultation upon his face died away when Andrews tried bis fortune and the king of diamonds greeted his eyes. “A tie!” the dudes exclaimed, in a breath. ‘*But the money’s mine, anyhow!” Grimgris- kin asserted. ‘* Eh?” chorused the three, in a breath. _“T said the money is mine, anyhow!” Alci- biades repeated, getting red in the face and showing evident signs of anger. ‘ And so it is, too; 1 win the bet!” ‘“* How do you make that out?” asked Andre #s, an amazed look upon his face, ‘Yas, by Jove! I don’t understand!” Van bap declared. ‘* Neither do I,” Clinton protested. “Why, you bet that you could beat my king, and you ain’t done it; that king don’t beat mine; mse ties it, that’s all,” Alcibiades responded, y. The dudes looked at each other in surprise, a unmixed with disgust, at this preposterous idea. But Andrews laid back in his chair and laughed heartily. dear Grim ; to use the “Oh, no, m language dear to the heart of the sporting-man, ‘ that cock won’t fight. You can’t get out of it in that way. ou offered to bet five to one that your king would capture the deal; those were your exact words; I am willing to leave it to these gentlemen who have no interest in the matter.” ** Most certainly!” Van Tromp exclaimed, promptly. ‘*Exact words, deah boy!” chimed in the other. ‘* Well, I didn’t intend it that way; that wasn’t what I meant!” Alcibiades protested. ‘*Of course it is impossible for any one to know what you meant outside of what you said,” Andrews remarked, quietly. ‘‘As the matter now stands the money is in doubt; you have not lost, neither have I won. It is a tie, and we must cut again and the highest card takes both deal and money.” The small soul of young Grimgriskin by this time had become alarmed. If lie had not been heated by the wine of which he had partaken so copiously at dinner, he never would have thought of making any such rash bet, and now he was in agony to find some way to get out of the matter, since his impudent claim to the stakes was not going to be allowed. He thought he had a sure thing or else he would not have made the wager, but now that it was apparent his opponent had just as good a chance to win as himself, he was dreadful anxious to get out of the hole into which his usual reckless- ness had brought him. ‘*Oh, well, as there is a misunderstanding about the matter, suppose we call the thing a draw and let each man take his money,” Alci- biades suggested, with an air of re frankness, striving to make it appear that he was anxious to do the square thing. ‘* But there isn’t any misunderstanding,” An- drews interposed. ‘* Decidedly not,” remarked Van Tromp, who enjoyed the discomfiture of the ‘‘cad,” as he mentally styled the son of oildom. ‘‘ Everything is as plain as can be, deah boy!” added the other dude, delighted at the chance to catch the boaster on the ae _ * But Pll tell you what Ill do, as you seem to think you have got yourself into a scrape,” the host remarked. ‘‘The chances now are even; you are as likely to win as I, and I stand as good a chance as you. I will put up dollar for dollar with you, and since we are going in for big things to-night, let’s make the stake eight or ten thousand a side. That will be le cutting a card for. What do you y? At this liberal offer the gambler’s frenzy seiz- ed upon young Grimgriskin. It was a stupendous chance; at one blow he could clutch a small fortune if the blind goddess deigned to smile upon him, and why should she not? ** All right; ’m your man; but seven thou- sand odd is all I’ve got.” ‘*“ Well make the stakes seven thousand five hundred apiece then. How will that suit?” asked Andrews, producing his money and begin- we foe count it out upon the table. ‘** First rate!” and Grimgriskin added bills to the pile upon the table until the sum of the wager was made up. ‘This is a pretty big thing,” he added, as he gazed upon the money with a longing Jook. “TI reckon that it ain’t often, even in New York, that fifteen thousand dollars depends upon the turn of a card.” “Not often, I presume, but then we're all high flyers here to-night, true-blue sports, and no mistake,” observed the host, lightly, his easy, good-humored manner a strange contrast to the feverish anxiety which had seized upon young Grimgriskin, whose face was flushed, and oe bands trembled as he reached for the cards. “Go ahead; take the first cut, and if you don’t strike an ace then may Mercury, the god of thieves and gamblers, have mercy upon you!” exclaimed Andrews, jovially. Alcibiades’s hand fairly shook as he cut the cards, and it was all he could do to repress a hollow groan when a miserable little five-spot met bis eyes. “ To his mind it was a million to one that he would lose now. ‘‘Curse the infernal luck!” he cried. ‘It serves me right, though, for putting such a pot of money on a single event.” ‘“T haven’t won. it yet,’ the host observed. ‘‘There are fours and threes and twos in the ck.” pn I'd be willing to bet a million that you will skin me!” Grimgriskin cried, angrily. ‘*The chances are in my favor, of course; I will admit that; but there is no telling who is Governor until after election.” And with the words Andrews cut the cards and ak we a six-spot. _ The stakes were his, but by a very close shave indeed. ‘“*I knew you would win when I saw that cursed five-spot,” Alcibiades observed, gloomily his brows contracted with anger, as he wa his antagonist gather up the money. ‘*Say! have 7 any liquor here? My throat nd Gri ack in is parched!” EGOMIEgDOCKS (ECO) *