“Anyhow, he had near a thousand in front of him when there come a big jack-pot with fifty in it before it was opened. Pete sat next to the dealer an’ he passed, havin’ on’y a king, jack, an’ ten o’ clubs, an’, o’ course, not bein’ permitted to open under the rules. The next man opened it for fifty, the next three come in, an’ Pete raised it a hundred. That was his fool play. Whenever he’d see a show for a royal flush he used to play as if he had it, for fear he wouldn’t get the good of it when it did come.
“Well, it worked pretty well. One of the crossroads professionals dropped out, but the other one had a seven full, pat, an’ after the two planters had come in, he raised Pete another hundred. Pete came back at him with another and one of the planters dropped. The other had a four flush and he stayed. The gambler, for some reason, didn’t raise again, but simply saw the raise, and there was thirteen hundred dollars in the pot.
“In the draw Pete got the ace an’ queen o’ clubs. I suppose if I’d a caught them cards under the circumstances, I’d a dropped dead, but Pete never turned a hair. There was al’ays a kind of a drop to the left side of his face an’ it looked a little droopier than usual, for a minute, but he gave no other sign, and the others thought he had three of a kind at the most. The planter filled his flush, an’ so Pete had two good hands to play against, which was as much as anybody could expect. He had about six hundred on the table to bet with, besides, and more’n that, he had resources that nobody at the table knew about.
“The planter sat next to the opener, who dropped out, and as it was his first bet and he had a flush, he pushed up a hundred, not carin’ to go too heavy against the gambler who had stood pat and who had stood the third raise before the draw. The gambler raised, of course, pushin’ up three-fifty.
“Things was a-goin’ Pete’s way, but he never grinned. What he had to do was to make the others think he was bluffing, so he studies his cards careful for awhile an’ then says, sort o’ desperate-like an’ sudden, ‘I’ll see that, an’ I’ll go you two-fifty better,’ an’ he pushes his pile to the middle of the table, barrin’ fifteen or twenty dollars he had in loose change.
“The planter’s flush was king high, so he saw it, but didn’t raise, an’ the gambler raised it five hundred, thinking that Pete would drop out. ‘That’s more than your threes are worth, I reckon,’ he said, with a sneer, but Pete never answered him. He studied his cards awhile longer and then said, pretty slow, ‘I haven’t got the cash to see you, but I’ve got the deeds to some property here that’s pretty valuable, an’ if you’ll take that for security, I’ll raise you a thousand.’
“He pulled some law papers out of his pocket as he spoke and laid them on the table, but the gambler spoke up, very nasty, an’ says: ‘I ain’t buyin’ no property without looking at it, an’ money is the on’y thing that talks in this game.’
“Pete looked at the planter, but he shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t mind as far as I am concerned,’ he said, ‘but there is an objection made. I don’t see how I can help you.’
“ ‘Very well,’ says Pete, pretending to look troubled, ‘then I’ll have to ask for a few minutes’ time till I can get some money to play with. Sam,’ he says to the nigger that was bringing them drinks, ‘take these papers over to Mr. Stevens an’ ask him if he will loan me ten thousand dollars on them.’
“Then there was a little wrangle. The other gambler who had dropped out objected to the delay, but the two planters spoke up for Pete and the gambler who held the full house said he was willin’ to wait while the gentleman got some more money, as he was goin’ to win it anyhow, so Sam went over to Mr. Stevens’s house. Stevens bein’ the president of our bank an’ a gentleman with proper sporting habits.