There were already seven at the table when I got to Nick's after dinner. He didn't want to deal me in.
"Seven's a full table, huh, Tex?" he said.
"Not for stud, it isn't," I told him. "You can deal to ten gamblers."
"Dealer's choice tonight," he protested, while some of the gamblers eyed me curiously. "Can't deal to more than seven for three-card draw."
"I told you where I stood on this thing last night," I snapped.
"All right," Nick said warmly. "So maybe I'd like the whole stink to cool down a little, huh?"
"Not with my dough in it, Nick!" I told him, being pretty free with something I didn't have much of any more. "You'll deal me in tonight or I'll find another banker!"
A gink with a long, scrawny neck put down his highball and rose from the table. "Gosh, fellows," he said. "I'm sort of a fifth wheel around here, I guess. Here, neighbor," he insisted. "Take my place." He was all grins and teeth and bobbed his head around with a rural awkwardness.
"You don't have to do that, Snead," Nick started to say.