lasts long enough to reach the faro lay-out, I'll get mine."

The excitement of the crowd began to infect the girl, even though
she looked on from the outside. The exultant voices, the sudden
hush, the tensity of nerve it all betokened, set her a-thrill. A
stranger left the throng and rushed to the spot where Cherry and
Mexico stood talking. He was small and sandy, with shifting glance
and chinless jaw. His eyes glittered, his teeth shone rat-like
through his dry lips, and his voice was shrill. He darted towards
them like some furtive, frightened little animal, unnaturally
excited.

"I guess that isn't so bad for three bets!" He shook a sheaf of
bank-notes at them.

"Why don't you stick?" inquired Mullins.

"I am too wise. Ha! I know when to quit. He can't win steady--he
don't play any system."

"Then he has a good chance," said the girl.

"There he goes now," the little man cried as the uproar arose. "I
told you he'd lose." At the voice of the multitude he wavered as
though affected by some powerful magnet.

"But he won again," said Mexico.

"No! Did he? Lord! I quit too soon!"