"Say, do you put any limit on this here game?" he asked.
"How far will you go?" questioned the dealer. "You're twenty dollars to the good already. You're shaping to break me."
Sergeant Silk hesitated and looked swiftly back over his shoulder. He wanted to delay operations until one or more of his chums of the Mounted Police should come in to his support, as had been planned in case of trouble.
"How much do you bet?" invited the sharper.
Silk leant forward, fumbling at his belt pocket.
"Fifty dollars," he readily answered.
The man with the diamond ring made a pretence of hesitation. Silk deliberately counted out ten five-dollar bills and held them between his fingers on the table.
"All right," the gambler assented, taking up what appeared to be the same three cards. "I don't mind running the risk, just for once on the off-chance of my luck taking a turn."
And he began to make passes with the three pieces of pasteboard.