"Good work, old man!" exclaimed Farrer. "You're no sucker. Deal for Mr. X, there, Robinson."
"I can deal for myself, thanks," remarked Steadman, and indeed he managed to do so surprisingly well.
This time Ralston held nothing and declined to play, while Steadman won a small amount with two large pair. Each man had lying before him a pile of greenbacks held in place by a heavy paper weight of brass surmounted by an ash receiver, Steadman's pile being composed almost entirely of one-thousand-dollar bills.
Presently Ralston found himself holding three queens on the deal and filled on the draw with a pair of nines. The cards had been running low, and he had already won in the neighborhood of twelve or thirteen hundred dollars. The three queens following his three jacks struck him as rather a coincidence, and betting merely a white chip he watched the others to see what would happen. To his surprise all dropped out but Steadman, who had drawn but a single card and who raised him a blue chip. Ralston now raised in his turn a like amount, and Steadman, there now being nearly five hundred dollars on the table, raised him a yellow. But Ralston, feeling confident of his position, pushed in a brown—the first thousand-dollar bet he had ever made. The gamblers were watching them with interest.
"I win," said Steadman, shoving over a brown chip and throwing down a flush. "All sky blue."
"Sorry," answered Ralston, "three ladies and a little pair."
"Curse the luck," growled Steadman. "One more hand and I quit."
"Quit?" cried one of the men. "Why, the game's young yet. Nobody's won or lost anything to speak of. Don't go now! Mr. Sackett wants to play and he's got a lot of our money. We're entitled to our revenge."
"I didn't ask him to play," mumbled Steadman. "I'm sick of the game and I don't feel just right. I feel sort of sick. I'm only goin' to play one more hand."
"All right! Jack pot!" cried Farrer cheerfully. "It's a house rule. Jack pots on all full houses containing the royal family. A 'palace pot' we call it. Give us a new pack."