"Gentlemen," he said, "look at this. It is another card marked with the two red crosses. I took it from the pocket of our worthy young pill roller. Who'd ever have thought that he was the mysterious indicator of trouble—the warning of the gods—the instrument of fate?"
"You darned old fool!" cried Nash, "that is the same card that was dealt to Davy Marsh last time we played. You know it as well as I do, you old ape! Look at it. Look at the back of it. Here, Rayton, you take a look at it."
"It is the same old card," said Rayton. "Nash took it away with him that night."
"Ah! My mistake," said the captain mildly.
When the company left the house, Rayton called Jim Harley back.
"I can't make it out," he said, looking from Banks to Harley, "but I want you chaps to know that two marked cards were dealt to me before supper. I kept quiet and changed the pack each time."
Harley clutched the Englishman's shoulder.
"You!" he exclaimed, with colorless lips. "Twice! Is that true?"
"Yes, it's true; but it is nonsense, of course," returned the Englishman.
"Don't worry, Jim," said Mr. Banks calmly. "The thing is all a fake—and I mean to catch the faker before I leave Samson's Mill Settlement!"