“He’s dazed,” whispered Sleuth. “His mind is befogged.”
“If we let him alone a few minutes he ought to come out of it,” said Osgood. “Let’s settle up. We can’t play any more to-night.”
“I’d like to know where that fuf-fifth ace came from,” said Springer, as he turned all the aces over and looked at the backs of the cards. “They’re alike, every one of ’em.”
“I had two packs alike,” explained Osgood. “The extra ace must have gotten into this pack by accident.”
“If we’ve been playing with it all the time,” ventured Cooper timidly, “it’s mighty funny we didn’t discover it before.”
“I’d like to know what you mean by that,” growled Shultz, glaring at Chipper in a manner that made the little fellow draw back a bit. “I hope you don’t insinuate——”
“I’m not insinuating anything,” was the hasty disclaimer. “I just said it was funny, that’s all.”
“Fuf-funny is hardly the word,” muttered Springer.
“I’m sure,” said Osgood quickly, “that no one in this crowd would play a dishonest game. The cards got mixed, and I made up that pack myself. If anybody is to blame, I am. Count up your chips, fellows, and let’s square things right away.”
They did as directed, and he settled up with each of them, turning last to Hooker, who was behind the game. Counting the few chips left to the unfortunate gamester, Osgood announced how many there were and offered their value in change to Roy, who, however, made no attempt to accept the coins.