lone watched the spin begin with mixed feelings. There was five
thousand dollars riding on the little ball. But, after all, Her
Majesty was a telepath. Did that mean anything?

He hadn't decided by the time the wheel stopped, and by then he didn't
have to decide.

"Thirty-four," the croupier said tonelessly. "Red, Even and High."

He raked in the chips with a nonchalant air.

Malone felt as if he had swallowed his stomach. Boyd and Lady Barbara,
standing nearby, had absolutely no expressions on their faces. Malone
needed no telepath to tell him what they were thinking.

They were exactly the same as he was. They were incapable of thought.

But Her Majesty never batted an eyelash. "Come, Sir Kenneth," she
said. "Let's go on to the poker tables."

She swept out. Her entourage followed her, shambling a little, and
blank-eyed. Malone was still thinking about the five thousand dollars.
Oh, well, Burris had said to give the lady anything she wanted. _But
my God!_ he thought. _Did she have to play for royal stakes?_

"I am, after all, a Queen," she whispered back to him.

Malone thought about the National Debt. He wondered if a million more
or less would make any real difference. There would be questions asked
in committees about it. He tried to imagine himself explaining the
evening to a group of Congressmen. "Well, you see, gentlemen, there
was this roulette wheel--"

He gave it up.

Then he wondered how much hotter the water was going to get, and he
stopped thinking altogether in self-defense.

In the next room, there were scattered tables. At one, a poker game
was in full swing. Only five were playing; one, by his white-tie-and-
tails uniform, was easily recognizable as a house dealer. The other
four were all men, one of them in full cowboy regalia. The Tudors
descended upon them with great suddenness, and the house dealer looked
up and almost lost his cigarette.

"We haven't any money, Your Majesty," Malone whispered.

She smiled up at him sweetly, and then drew him aside. "If you were a
telepath," she said, "how would _you_ play poker?"

Malone thought about that for a minute, and then turned to look for
Boyd. But Sir Thomas didn't even have to be given instructions.
"Another five hundred?" he said.

Her Majesty sniffed audibly. "Another five thousand," she said
regally.

Boyd looked Malonewards. Malone looked defeated.

Boyd turned with a small sigh and headed for the cashier's booth.
Three minute