All this being explained to the head of the Manchester firm, the natural exclamation which fell from him was, 'But suppose anyone among the bystanders happened to bring out a mariner's compass?' It appeared, however, even in that case, that all was not lost, and that the swindler would be equal to the occasion. Quietly putting his hand between his coat-tails, he drew out a neat little 'Derringer,' about a foot long, and observed, 'Wal, sir, I guess that compass would never git around my table. You kin bet on that.' That's the sort of man he was.

[CHAPTER XIII]
SPORTING-HOUSES

We now come to a consideration of the so-called 'sporting-houses,' otherwise, the firms who supply sharps with the appliances and tools of their craft. These places are many, and, as a rule, prosperous. Their dealings in 'advantage goods,' as these things are called by the fraternity, are of course 'under the rose,' and the real nature of their business is covered by the fact that they are supposed to be dealers in honest commodities of various kinds. Some of these people keep 'emporiums' for the ostensible sale of genuine gambling appliances, such as faro-tables, billiard-tables, dice, cards, &c. Others will run businesses which are far removed from anything in the nature of gambling. The cheating business is, of course, kept in the background, although no great secret would appear to be made of it; the inference being, one may suppose, that it is not criminal to sell these things, although it is undoubtedly so to use them.

Until quite recently it was no uncommon thing to find advertisements in certain of the American newspapers, to some such effect as 'Holdouts and other Sporting Tools.—Apply to Messrs. So-and-So,' giving the name and address. An advertisement of this kind would, of course, be simply Greek to the majority, although the sharps would understand its meaning readily enough. Upon applying to the advertiser, a sharp would receive a voluminous price list, setting forth the manifold beauties and advantages of the wares at his disposal, and showing conclusively that no other dealer had things so good to sell, and that the advertising firm was the most fair dealing and conscientious in the world, if their own account of themselves might be trusted.

The first specimen of these literary and artistic productions to which we shall refer is a very exhaustive affair; so much so, in fact, that space will not allow it to be reprinted in its entirety. Besides cheating appliances it quotes all kinds of genuine gambling tools, which are of no importance to us in our present inquiry. Such parts, then, as have no reference to cheating have been excised, to avoid crowding these pages with unnecessary matter. The reader who has conscientiously followed, and taken pains to understand the explanations contained in previous chapters, will have no difficulty in arriving at a very fair notion of the various items given, and the significance of much that, otherwise, would possess no meaning for him. [This catalogue] is issued by a firm in San Francisco.

THE ONLY
SPORTING EMPORIUM
ON THE PACIFIC COAST.

(Name) & (Name) , COMPANY.