stakes were removed to a side table and the men cut for the deal,
each man was given ten chips.

In poker everything goes that can be made go; Coogan knew perfectly well
that there would be positively no interference on the part of the
spectators, no matter how open and vile his attempts to cheat his
antagonist. Douglass would be left severely alone in his self-defense,
and he resolved to employ every means at his command to win, and that
meant play of the foulest kind. Just so long as his opponent (for whom
by the way he very foolishly felt the professional's contempt of
amateurism) should not detect his crooked work, he would not be
interfered with by his victim's friends. He had never watched Douglass's
play before, but smiled confidently at what he mistook for awkwardness
when Ken clumsily shuffled the cards, the deal having fallen to him.

It was dealer ante and Douglass stayed when Coogan came in. The gambler
filled his hand, aces on sixes, on a three card draw. He passed the bet
and Douglass bet one chip; Coogan raised it two and Douglass called. The
latter had three queens and Coogan took the pot. He was quite certain of
his man now; this cowpuncher was either rattled and had lost his nerve,
or else he was an amateur of the rawest kind, it being evident from the
fact of his drawing only two cards that he had the three queens before
the draw, his other cards being a deuce and seven.

But his equanimity got a jar when Ken passed up the ante on his deal and
subsequently regained all his lost chips on his own deal. The hands were
astonishingly big for the stage of the game and the gambler essayed a
crooked play which apparently was not detected by Douglass. He was
vastly encouraged thereby and tried it repeatedly, winning only a chip
or two each time. Fortune seemed very capricious and at last both men
were again on even footing, each having in possession his full quota of
counters.

Emboldened by his previous successes in that line the gambler now went
about systematically holding out cards; he finally secured the four
aces, dealing Douglass a king full. When the latter called him all the
chips of both men were in the pot.

"What have you got?" The cowboy's voice was peculiarly clear, his manner
suave and courteous.

"What you got?" evasively retorted Coogan with a smirk.

"King full--_and_ a .44 to your nothing! Your sleeve is too tight for
this kind of work, Bart. I didn't think you'd dare try that on me;