h the voice of a footpad demanding charity,
and obeying the laws of the game, the winners threw a dollar or more
from their heap to the boss.

For an hour Chook won steadily, and then at every throw the heap of
coins in front of him lessened. A trot or succession of seven tails
followed, and the kip changed hands rapidly, for the spinner drops the
kip when he throws tails. Chook stopped betting during the trot,
obeying an instinct. Without counting, his practised eye told him that
there were about five pounds in the heap of coins in front of him. The
seventh man threw down the kip, and Chook, as if obeying a signal, rose
from his seat and walked into the centre of the ring. He handed five
shillings to the boxer, and placed the pennies tail up on the kip. His
stake was covered with another dollar, the betting being even money.

"Fair go!" cried the boxer.

Chook jerked the coins upward with the skill of an old gaffer; they
flew into the dome, and then dropped spinning. As they touched the
canvas floor, a hundred voices cried "Two heads!"

"Two heads!" cried the boxer, and a shower of coins flew across the
ring to the winners.

"A dollar or ten bob heads!" cried the boxer, staking Chook's win.
Chook spun the coins again, and as they dropped heads, the boxer raked
in one pound.

"Wot d'ye set?" he cried to Chook.

"The lot," cried Chook, and spun the coins. Heads again, and Chook had
two pounds in the boxer's hands, who put ten shillings aside in case
Chook "threw out", and staked thirty. Chook headed them again, and was
three pounds to the good. The gaffers realized that a trot of heads
was coming, and the boxer had to offer twelve to ten to cover Chook's
stake. For the seventh time Chook threw heads, and was twelve pounds to
the good. This was his dream come true, and with the faith of the
gambler in omens, he knew that was the end of his luck. He set two
pounds of his winnings, and tossed the coins.

"Two ones!" cried the gamblers, with a roar.

Chook threw again. One penny fell flat on its face; the other rolled
on its edge across the ring. In a sudden, deadly silence, a hundred
necks craned to follow its movements. Twenty or thirty pounds in
dollars and half-dollars depended on the wavering coin. Suddenly it
stopped, balanced as if in doubt, and fell on its face.

"Two tails!" cried the gaffers, and the trot of heads was finished.
Chook's stake was swept away, and the boxer handed him ten po