l error, but the only other dice in the crowd were the
taper cubes belonging to the Mud Turtle, and the Wildcat knew that the
production of these dice in that congregation would probably result in
his immediate disintegration under the blades of some hungry social
razors.

The boy on the opposite side of the table spoke. "Shoots fifty
dollahs!"

"You sho' starts blooded." The Wildcat peeled fifty dollars from his
roll. "You'se faded. Roll 'em."

The boy rolled them, and an ace-dooce bloomed under the electric light.

A grunt of disappointment went up from several interested veterans of
the Banded Brothers gathered around the table, and the rabbi plunged
his way into the crowd. He used a few words not commonly included in a
rabbi's vocabulary. "Git out o' de way. Gimme dem dice. How come you
makes dis mistake?" He took the dice from the loser. "Wilecat, Ah
shoots fifty dollars!"

The Wildcat divided his winnings and laid fifty dollars on the table.
"Rabbi, roll 'em."

The rabbi breathed a fervent prayer upon the speckled cubes and cast
them away from him into the outer darkness. "Freckle tops, git right!
Bam! I reads seven. Lets it lay. Shoots a hund'ed!"

"Roll 'em, you'se faded." The Wildcat trimmed himself for another
hundred.

The rabbi made another throw. "Luck dice, ketch dat Wilecat. Whuff! An'
dey says five an' a six. Dey sho' is lucky."

The Wildcat grunted. "Lucky fo' you."

"Pussonel luck is de luck I likes best," the rabbi returned. "I lets it
lay. You has yo' chance. Shoots two hund'ed."

The Wildcat skinned his roll for two hundred dollars. "Dese heah frog
skins sho' has got de quick dwindles. You'se faded. Roll 'em."

The rabbi abandoned his ecclesiastical lingo and fell into the
vernacular. "Tiger dice, claw me! Turtle dice, off de log! Soap dice,
git slick. Clean dat Wilecat. Gun dice, pull de triggah--wham! An' I
reads six-ace."

The Wildcat's fingers began to itch for the possession of the bones. He
turned to the Mud Turtle, who was close beside him. "Hot dam, boy, dat
talk sho' sounds nat'chul! Dat boy growed up someplace else befo' he
started de rabbi business."

The rabbi raked in his winnings. He slipped half the roll and laid it
on the green cloth. "Shoots two hund'ed. Fade me is you reckless!"

The Wildcat was in too deep to back out. He pared two hundred dollars
from his roll and laid it beside the rabbi's stake. "Boy, yo' luck's
got to bus' sometime, even is you a rabbi. Rol