Now Harris advanced and cut the cards quickly.
As he picked up the upper half of the deck, he turned his shoulder slightly so that the others, for the moment, might not see what he had cut. He glanced at the bottom card. It was the six of diamonds.
Deftly, Harris shuffled the cards with his hands. Adept in the art of trickery, though the others did not know it, he had placed the cards in such position that he knew almost identically where the high and low cards were.
Like a flash his hand passed across the bottom of the deck and when it was withdrawn the six of diamonds had disappeared. Then he turned to the others and exposed:
The two spot of spades!
"I lose," he said quietly.
Harris' movements had been so quick that they had not been perceived by the others.
Jack was the first to extend a hand.
"I'm sorry," the lad said quietly. "I was in hopes that it would be me."
As he shook hands with the others, Harris kept his left hand behind him; for in it reposed the card he had palmed—the six of diamonds, which would have allowed him to go with the others and would have put Jack in his place.