ans languidly opened the betting, but after the first round he
dropped out, and only Jasperson and the professor remained. Each raised
the other persistently, and while Jasperson grew more and more excited,
the professor smiled as usual, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"And another five," said Larrabee.

For the first time, Jasperson hesitated. "You sure you mean it,
professor? I kind of hate to clean you out, especially because I doubt
if you can afford it."

"Suppose you let me be the judge of what is, after all, a private
matter?"

"All right, it's you that will go bankrupt, not me. And another five."

"See you, and raise you five!"

* * * * *

Jasperson sat back and pondered, his cold eyes calculating. "Now let's
review the situation, just among friends. The professor's a smart man,
and he isn't rich. He saw me draw one card, so he can make a pretty good
guess what I probably hold, if I drew the right card, but he's playing a
pat hand, and playing as if he meant it. Well, I've put a lot of credits
in that pot, but I never did believe in throwing good money after bad,
even in a friendly game. I quit."

"What? You mean you're going to drop out without even seeing me?"

"I know when I'm licked. Five credits is five credits, even to me." He
threw down his cards and reached to gather in the deck.

Slowly Professor Larrabee raked in the chips, as Jasperson went on
complacently.

"That's the only principle a practical man can work on. Know when you're
licked. Get all the facts, analyze all the data, and then act on the
logical conclusion, no matter how much you may hate to. It was clear to
me that you must have drawn a pat flush that would top my straight, so I
simply decided not to waste any more money."

"Thank you, Mr. Jasperson. I appreciate the gift."

"It was no gift. You had me beat."

"Did I? Only if you had all the facts, only if you analyzed all the
data, and only if you reached the correct conclusion. Perhaps you ought
to see what I held."

Deliberately he turned over his hand and spread the cards.

Jasperson jumped to his feet in a rage. "But that's a handful of junk!
Not even a pair! You held a bust, and I had you beat!"

"Certainly. But you didn't know it. Without all the facts, you acted on
a faulty conclusion."

Breathing noisily, his plump face flushed, Jasperson smashed his fist
into his pile of chips and scattered them to the floor.

"A pure bluff