up her hand.

[Illustration: "May I raise ... five thousand?"]

"The ante's ten, ma'am," the dealer said softly.

Without looking, Her Majesty removed a ten-dollar chip from the pile
before her and sent it spinning to the middle of the table.

The dealer opened his mouth, but said nothing. Malone, meanwhile, was
peering over the Queen's shoulder.

She held a pair of nines, a four, a three and a Jack.

The man to the left of the dealer announced glumly: "Can't open."

The next man grinned. "Open for twenty," he said.

Malone closed his eyes. He heard the cowboy say: "I'm in," and he opened
his eyes again. The Queen was pushing two ten-dollar chips toward the
center of the table.

The next man dropped, and the dealer looked round the table. "How many?"

The man who couldn't open took three cards. The man who'd opened for
twenty stood pat. Malone shuddered invisibly. That, he figured, meant at
least a straight. And Queen Elizabeth Thompson was going in against a
straight or better with a pair of nines, Jack high.

For the first time, it was borne in on Malone that being a telepath did
not necessarily mean that you were a good poker player. Even if you knew
what every other person at the table held, you could still make a whole
lot of stupid mistakes.

He looked nervously at Queen Elizabeth, but her face was serene.
Apparently she'd been following the thoughts of the poker players, and
not concentrating on him at all. That was a relief. He felt, for the
first time in days, as if he could think freely.

The cowboy said: "Two," and took them. It was Her Majesty's turn.

"I'll take two," she said, and threw away the three and four. It left
her with the nine of spades and the nine of hearts, and the Jack of
diamonds.

These were joined, in a matter of seconds, by two bright new cards: the
six of clubs and the three of hearts.

Malone closed his eyes. Oh, well, he thought.

It was only thirty bucks down the drain. Practically nothing.

Of course Her Majesty dropped at once; knowing what the other players
held, she knew she couldn't beat them after the draw. But she did like
to take long chances, Malone thought miserably. Imagine trying to fill a
full house on one pair!

* * * * *

Slowly, as the minutes passed, the pile of chips before Her Majesty
dwindled. Once Malone saw her win with two pair against a reckless man
trying to fill a straight on the other side of the table.