they come along together back to the bar-room--where the cloth
was off the table, and the cards and chips out, ready for business to
begin. All the boys was jammed in there--Nosey Green with his face
tied up like he had a toothache, so it didn't show who he was--waiting
to see what more was coming; and they was about busting with the
laughs they had inside 'em, and ready to play close up to Santa Fe's
hand.

Charley set down to deal, same as usual, and asked the little man to
set down aside of him--telling him he'd likely be interested in
knowing that what come to the bank that night would go to getting the
melodeon the Sunday-school needed bad. And then he shoved the cards
round the table, and things begun. The little man took it all
dreamy--saying kind of to himself he'd never in all his born days
expected to see a minister making money for Sunday-school melodeons by
running a faro-bank. But he wasn't so dreamy but he had sense enough
to keep out of the game. Santa Fe kept a-asking him polite to come
in; but he kept answering back polite he wouldn't--saying he was no
sort of a hand at cards.

About the size of it was, in all the matters he could see his way to
that little man had as good a load of sand as anybody--and more'n
most. Like enough at home he'd read a lot of them fool Wild West
stories--the kind young fellers from the East, who swallow all that's
told 'em, write up in books with scare pictures--and that was why in
some ways he was so easy fooled. But I guess it would a-been a mistake
to pick him up for a fool all round. Anyhow, Santa Fe got a set-back
from him on his melodeon-faro racket--and set-backs didn't often come
Santa Fe's way.

It wasn't a real game the little man was up against, and like enough
he had the savey to ketch on to what was being give him. For the look
of the thing they'd fixed to start with a baby limit, and not raise it
till he got warmed up and asked to; and it was fixed only what he
dropped--the rest going back to the boys--should stay with the bank.
But as he didn't warm up any worth speaking of, and wasn't giving
himself no chances at all to do any dropping, Santa Fe pretty soon
found out they might as well hang up the melodeon fund and go on to
the next turn.

* * * * *

The Sage-Brush Hen managed most of what come next, and she done it
well. She'd dressed herself up in them white clothes of hers with a
little blue bow tied on at t