only I had cold feet an' didn't dast let it ride. If it'd
rid, instead of me drawin' down after the third pass, I'd 'a' won over
thirty thousan' on the original two-bit piece."

"Just the same, Shorty, this is a real system."

"Huh! You got to show me."

"I did show you. Come on with me now, and I'll show you again."

When they entered the Elkhorn, all eyes centered on Smoke, and those
about the table made way for him as he took up his old place at the
keeper's end. His play was quite unlike that of the previous night. In
the course of an hour and a half he made only four bets, but each bet
was for twenty-five dollars, and each bet won. He cashed in thirty-five
hundred dollars, and Shorty carried the dust home to the cabin.

"Now's the time to jump the game," Shorty advised, as he sat on the edge
of his bunk and took off his moccasins. "You're seven thousan' ahead. A
man's a fool that'd crowd his luck harder."

"Shorty, a man would be a blithering lunatic if he didn't keep on
backing a winning system like mine."

"Smoke, you're a sure bright boy. You're college-learnt. You know more'n
a minute than I could know in forty thousan' years. But just the same
you're dead wrong when you call your luck a system. I've been around
some, an' seen a few, an' I tell you straight an' confidential an'
all-assurin', a system to beat a bankin' game ain't possible."

"But I'm showing you this one. It's a pipe."

"No, you're not, Smoke. It's a pipe-dream. I'm asleep. Bimeby I'll wake
up, an' build the fire, an' start breakfast."

"Well, my unbelieving friend, there's the dust. Heft it."

So saying, Smoke tossed the bulging gold-sack upon his partner's knees.
It weighed thirty-five pounds, and Shorty was fully aware of the crush
of its impact on his flesh.

"It's real," Smoke hammered his point home.

"Huh! I've saw some mighty real dreams in my time. In a dream all things
is possible. In real life a system ain't possible. Now, I ain't never
been to college, but I'm plum justified in sizin' up this gamblin' orgy
of ourn as a sure-enough dream."

"Hamilton's 'Law of Parsimony,'" Smoke laughed.

"I ain't never heard of the geezer, but his dope's sure right. I'm
dreamin', Smoke, an' you're just snoopin' around in my dream an'
tormentin' me with system. If you love me, if you sure do love me,
you'll just yell, 'Shorty! Wake up!' An' I'll wake up an' start
breakfast."

The third night of play, as Smoke laid his first bet, t