"All the more reason why you should take a hand," chimed in Brower. "I was broke the night before last, and now I've got three dollars and seventy-five cents, and am specializing in velvet."
"What's velvet?" asked Evan.
"This here," said three of the boys together, indicating reserve heaps of matches.
"And how much does each match stand for?" continued Nelson.
"We're playing penny," answered Levison, "with a nickel limit. That means fairly small losses for each man and a pretty good clean-up for the winner, with five playing."
"Have you been only two nights making three dollars and six bits?" Evan asked Brower.
"Yes," was the reply, "that's more than I can make in two days in the bank."
"Of course," observed Marks, "when you get a bean for a day's work you make it out of the bank, but this night-pay comes out of us. A slight difference, to use the words of a—"
"Come on," interrupted Brower, "ante and get the game a-going again."
"Sure," said Levison, turning away from the cash-book man.