“Seven hundred.”
“Seven hundred and fifty.”
“Thousand!” shouted Irwin with resounding voice, and leant back in his chair smiling, as if certain of victory.
“You had better consider what you are about,” said McGregor. “I have given you warning.”
“A convenient way to haul in seven hundred and fifty rupees. I repeat: A thousand rupees.”
“One thousand and fifty!”
“Two thousand!”
All the gentlemen present in the tent had risen and stood round the two players, who, their cards concealed in their hands, watched each other with sharp glances. Hermann Heideck, who had stepped behind Irwin, noticed on the right hand of the Captain a magnificent diamond ring. But he also perceived, by the way the bright sparkle of the stone quivered, how the gambler’s fingers trembled.
Captain McGregor turned to his companions. “I take the gentlemen to witness that I have advised my comrade Irwin not to see me at six hundred.”
“To the devil with your advice!” Irwin interrupted almost furiously. “Am I a boy? Will you see me at two thousand, McGregor, or will you not?”