Stephen fumbled in his pocket for change.
“Don’t pay now,” drawled Jackson. “Drinks is on the game. Winner shells up for the pleasure he has had.”
Hankins joined them at the table, remarking as he sat down: “What’s the chips wuth?” He nodded assent to Stephen’s rather indistinct answer.
“Freeze-out? Play till some one goes broke? Let her drive, Jackie!”
Jackson dealt with rapid precision, emphasizing each round by banging his own card down hard on the table. All looked at their hands, while the dealer drawled softly: “Kyards, gents? Kyards—three for you, Mr. Loring?”
For three hours they played. Every little while Hankins rose, and brought more drinks.
“On the game, gents, on the game!” he exclaimed each time.
Sometimes one was ahead, sometimes another, but no one had any decided advantage. Stephen played mechanically. The voices of the other men seemed to him far away, and indistinct.
Then the luck changed, and Loring began to win steadily. His success drew him on. He played recklessly, but by some sport of fate continued to win. He had a stiff smile upon his lips, and was evidently playing blindly.
“Say, Hankie, I guess we are being bitten,” remarked Jackson dryly.
“It sure looks that way. Mr. Loring here is a great player. We didn’t know what we were up against, did we?”
In his maudlin condition these words delighted Stephen. With only a pair of threes in his hand he pulled in a stack of chips, on which the others had dropped out.
Hankins was shuffling, preparatory to his deal. As he twisted the cards in his fingers, he gave a vivid, if immoral, account of his last trip to Tucson. Loring’s head was swimming, but he caught the words: “She was the stuff all right, all right.”
Suddenly Jackson jumped to his feet, and stood as if listening intently.
“I guess your _caballo_ must be loose, Mr. Loring; seems to me I hear him sort of stamping round outside. Did you hitch him tight?”
Loring staggered to the door and looked out. From the blackness came a gust of wind and rain that cooled his flushed forehead.
“I think he’s all right. Can’t see anything at all. Must have been wind you heard. Big, big wind outside.”
During his absence from the table, Hankins had dealt. Stephen picked up his cards. At first he could not distinguish them. They seemed to be all a blur of color. Then it slowly dawned upon him that he held four kings and a jack. His head reeled with excitement.