. A man who had started out with a fifty-dollar bet had
managed to run it up to one hundred seventy-four thousand two hundred
dollars in six plays.

Howley looked as innocent as possible under the circumstances, and
carefully dropped the dial on his gadget back a few notches. Then he bet
another two thousand on High, an even money bet.

Naturally, he won.

He twisted the dial back a few more notches and won again on High.

Then he left it where it was and won by betting on Red.

By this time, of course, things were happening. The croupier had long
since pressed the alarm button, and five men had carefully surrounded
Howley. They looked like customers, but they were harder-looking than
the average, and they were watching Howley, not the wheel. Farther back
from the crowd, three of the special deputies from the sheriff's office
were trying to look inconspicuous in their gray uniforms and white
Stetsons and pearl-handled revolvers in black holsters. You can imagine
how inconspicuous they looked.

Howley decided to do it up brown. He reset his gadget as surreptitiously
as possible under the circumstances, and put his money on thirteen
again.

"Thirteen, Black, Odd, and Low," said the croupier in a hollow voice.

The five men in evening dress and the three deputies moved in closer.

Howley nonchalantly scraped in his winnings, leaving the two thousand on
the thirteen spot.

There was a combination of hostility and admiration in every eye around
the table when the croupier said, "Thirteen, Black, Odd, and Low" for
the fifth time in the space of minutes. And everyone of those eyes was
turned on Jason Howley.

The croupier smiled his professional smile. "I'm sorry, ladies and
gentlemen; we'll have to discontinue play for a while. The gentleman has
broken the bank at this table." He turned the smile on Howley.
"Congratulations, sir."

Howley smiled back and began stacking up over three hundred thousand
dollars worth of plastic disks. It made quite a pile.

One of the deputies stepped up politely. "I'm an officer, sir," he said.
"May I help you carry that to the cashier's office?"

Howley looked at the gold star and nodded. "Certainly. Thanks."

[Illustration]

The other two deputies stepped up, too, and the three of them walked
Howley toward the cashier's office. Behind them came the five men in
dinner jackets.

"You'll have to step into the office to cash that much, sir," said one
of the deputies as he ope