He smiled in allusion to Shagarach's maiden try.
"But sometimes the bank condescends to take a risk. Then the stakes are high. Each player lays a thousand opposite one of the four reds. If the needle stops over white or black, Reddy scoops the pot. But if it favors a red the man on the spot opposite gets $5,000 from the bank and the others quit whole. You see it's perfectly fair. Twenty blacks and whites and four reds, that makes the odds five to one against the players. So the bank, if red wins, quintuples the stakes all round."
"But the bank twists the needle," said Shagarach.
"Oh, that's all open and above board."
"Do you see Reddy looking down?"
"He is watching the checker board."
"Why not a mirror under the table?"
"What would it show?"
"Two slender bar magnets crossed under the disk. His foot can rotate them so as to underlie any four of the spots; and the needle is of steel." Faught opened his eyes.
"Bravo!" an exclamation burst from the crowd.