Desert Dust
By 6dwin £. Sabin
Author of “How Are You Feeling?” ef&
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With that, she accepted my
arm. We promenaded, Jim
i sauntering near. And as she em
! phaLically was the superior of
aU other women upon the floor I
; did not fail to dilate with the
. distinction accorded me: felt it
in the fiances, the deference and
the ready make-way which at
’ tended upon our progress. Frank
t iy to say, possibly I strutted—as
a young httfft Wtti \vhen “torti
j fi©d” witbfci and without and ele
i fated, from the start on of non
' descript stranger to that of favor
ed beau.
j Whereas an hour before I had
i been crushed and beggarly, now
} I turned out my toes and stepped
i bravely—my twenty-one dollars
,in pocket, my six-shooter at belt,
■'a red 'kerchief at throat, the
! quaen of the hall on my arm, and
jrajr trunk all unnecessary to my
; welt-being.
' Thus in easy fashion we moved
• amidst eyes and salutations from
i the various degrees of the com
Jpany. She made no mention of
[any husband, which might have
: been odd in the East but did not
J impress me as especially odd
j here in the democratic Far West.
: The women appeared to have an
independence of action.
“Shall we risk a play or two?”
•’she proposed. “Aro you ac
' quainted with three-card mon
1 tef “
“Indifferently, madam,” said
'I “flat I am green at all
’ gambling devices.”
, “Yon shall learn,” she en
• couraged lightly. “In Benton
! ®s in Rome, you know. There is.
i no disgrace attached to laying
, down a dollar here and there—
: we all do it. That is part of our
i amusement, in Benton.” She
[halted. “Yon are game, sirt
, What is life but a scries of
! ehancesT Are you disposed to
! win a little and flout the danger
of loaing?”
• I am in Benton to win,” I
valiantly assorted. “And if un
der your direction, so much the
quicker. What first, then? The
three-card monte ? ’'
“It is the simplest. Faro
would be beyond you yet. Rondo
eoolo is boisterous and confusing
’■—and as for poker, that, is a long
ueasion of nerves, while chuck
a-luck, though all in the open, is
tor children and fools, You
might throw the dice a thousand
limes and never east a lucky com
bination. Roulette is as bad.
The percentage in favor of the
bank in a square game is forty
i pec cent, better than stealing.
| 111 initiate you on monte. Are
your eyes quick?”
“For some things,” I replied
- meaningly.
I She conducted rae to the near
est monte game, where the
“spieler”—a smooth-faced lad
of not more than nineteen-—sat
j behind his three-legged little ta
ble, green covered, and idly
shifting the cards about main
| tained a rather bored flow of
! conversational incitement to bets.
I As happened, he was illy pa
| tronised at the moment. There
< were not more than three or four
on-lookers, none risking but all .
waiting apparently upon one
another.
At our arrival the youth glanc
I ed up with the most innocent
I pair of long-lashed brown eyes
that I ever had seen. A hand
some boy he was.
“Hello, Bob.”
1 • ■ 1 0 ■ "
my pocket. “Allow me. I will
furnish the funds if you will do
the playing.”
“I choose the card?” said she.
“That is up to you, sir. You are
to learn.”
“By watching, at first,” I pro
tested. “We should be part
ners.”
“ Well,” she consented, “if you
say so. Partners it is. A lady
brings luck, but I shall not al
fvay'S do your playing for you,
sir. That ^ipd of partnership
Comes to grief.’’
lain nopetui oi playing on
my own score, in due time,” I
responded. “As you will see.”
‘‘What’s the card, Bob? We've
a dollar on it, as a starter.”
He eyed her, while facing the
cards up.
“The ace. You see it—the
ace, backed by ten and deuce. *
Here it is. All ready?” He
turned them down, in order;
methodically, even listlessly
moved them to and fro, yet with
light, sure, well-nigh be-wikler
ing touch. Suddenly lifted his
hands. ‘‘All set. A dollar vou
don’t face up the ace at ^irst
try.”
She laughed, bantering.
‘‘Oh, Bob! You're too easy. I
wonder you aren’t broke. You’re
no monte spieler. Is this your
best?”
And I believed that. I myself
knew which card was the ace.
‘‘Vou hear me, and there's my
dollar.” He coolly waited.
‘‘Not yours; oura. Will you
make it. five?”
‘‘One is my limit on this throw.
You named it.”
“Oho!” With a dart of hand
she had turned up the middle
card, exposing the ace spot, as I
had anticipated. She swept the
two dollars to her.
“Adios,” she bade.
He smiled, indulgent.
!So soon? Don t i get my re
venge? You, sir.” And he ap
pealed to me. “You see how
easy it is. I'll throw you a turn
for a dollar, two dollars, five dol
lars—anything to combiue busi
ness and pleasure. Whether I .
win or lose I don’t eare. You’ll j
follow the lead of the lady? |
What?”
I was on fire to accept, but she
stayed me.
“Not now. I’m showing him
around, Bob. You’ll get your re- j
venge later. Good-bye. I’ve
drummed up trade for you.”
As if inspired by the winning
several of the by-standers, some
newly arrived, had money in
their hands to stake. So we stroll
ed on; and I was conscious that i
the youth’8 brown eyes briefly
flicked after us with a peculiar
glint.
“Yours,” she said, extending
the coins to me. I declined,
the coins to me.
I declined.
“No, indeed. It is part of my
tuition. If you will play I will
stake.”
She also declined.
“I can’t have that. You I'lll i
at least take your own money
back.”
“Only for another try, mad
am,” I assented.
“In that case we’ll find a live
lier game yonder,” said dir.
“Bob’s just a lasy boy. His
game is a piker game. He* a too
slow to learn from. Let us watch
a real game.”
He smiled, with white teeth.
“Hello yourself.”
My lady and he seemed to *
know each other.
* ,4P0vr goes it to-night, BobV*
k “Slow. There’s no nerve or
money in this camp any more.
She’a a dead one.”
I “I'll not have Benton slander
My Lady gai,y retorted.
] We’ll buck your game, Bob.
|Bnt yon must be easy on us.
We’re green yet.”
Bob shot a quick glance at me
—in one look had read me from
hat to boots. He had shrewder
eyes that their first languor in
timated.
‘Pleased to accommodate you.
I’m sure,” he answered. “The
greenies stand as good a show at
this board as the profesh.”
“Will you play for a dollar!”
“I’ll play for two bits, to-night.
Anything to start action.” He
twisted liis mouth with ready
chagrin.
“I'm shout ripe to bet against
myself.”
She fnntbled at her reticule,
bat I was beforehand.
“No. no.” Ahd 1 fished into
CHAPTER Vin
I Stake On The Queen
Jim had disappeared; uutil
when we had made way to
another monte table there he
was, his hands in his pockets, his
cigar half smoked.
More of a crowd was here; the
voice of the spieler more insist
ent, yet low-pitched and busi
nesslike. He was a study—a
square-shouldered, well set-up,
W'iry man of olive complexion,
finely chiseled features save for
nose somewhat cruelly beaked, of 1
short black moustache, dead
black long w*avy hair, and,
placed boldly wide, contrastive
hard gray eyes that lent atmos
phere of coldness to his face.
His hat was pulled down over his
forehead, he held an unlighted
cigar between his teeth while he I
mechanically spoke and shifted
the three cards (a diamond
flashing from a finger, upon the
baize-covered little table.
Money had been w agered. He j
had just raked in a fewT notes, ad
ding them to bis pile. His mono
tone droned on.
“Next, ladies and gentlemen,
sometimes j win, sometimes I lose
That is my business. The play
is yours. You may think I have
two ch; i ccs to your one; that is
not so. You make the choice.
Always the queen, always the
queen. You have only to watch
the queen, one card. I have three
cards. You have your two eyes,
I have my two hands. You spot
the card only when you think you
can. I meet all comers. It is an
even gamble.”
Jim remarked us as we joined.
“How you cornin’ now?” he
greeted of me.
“We won a dollar,” My Lady
responded.
“Not I. She did the choos
ing,” I corrected.
“But you would have chosen
the same card, yon said,” she
prompted. “You saw how easy
it was.”
“Easy if you know how,” Jim
asserted. “Think to stake a
leetle here? I’ve been keepin’
cases and luck’s breaking ag’in
the bank to-night, by gosh. Made
several turns, myself, already.”
“We’ll wait a minute tib we
get his system,” she answered.
“Are you watching, ladies and
gentlemen?” bade the dealer, in
that even tone. “You see the
eight of clubs, the eight of
spades, the queen of hearts. The
qneen is your card. My hand
against your eyes, then. You are
set? There you are. Pick the
queen, some one of you. Put
your money on the queen of
hearts. You can turn the card
yourself. What? Nobody? Don’t
be pikers. Let us have a little
sport. Stake a dollar. Why,
you’d toss a dollar down your
throat—you’d lay a dollar on a
cockroach race—you <1 bet tnat
much on a yellow dog if you
owned him, just to show your
spirit. And here I’m offering
you a straight proposition.”
With a muttered “I’ll go you
another turn, Mister,” Jim step
ped closer and planked down a
dollar. The dealer cast a look
up at him as with pleased sur
prise.
“You, sir? Very good. You
have spirit. Money talks. Here
is my dollar. Now, to prove to
these other people what a good
guesser you are, which is the
queenT”
“Here,” Jim said confiden
tially; and sure enough he faced
up the queen of hearts.
“The money’s yours. You
never earned a dollar quicker^.
I’ll wager, friend,” the dealer
acknowledged, imperturbable—
for he evidently was one who
never evinced the least emotion,
whether he won or lost. “Very
good. Now.”
From behind him a man—a
newcomer to the spot, who looked
like any respectable Eastern
merchant, being well dressed and
grave of face—touched him upon
the shoulder. He turned ear;
while he inclined farther they
whispered together, and I wit
nessed an arm steal swiftly for
ward a my side, and a thumb and
finger slightly bend up the ex
treme corner of the queen. The
hand and arm vanished ; when
the dealer fronted us again the
?ueen was apparently just as be
ore. Only we who had seen
would have marked the bent
corner.
The act had been so clever and
so audacious that I fairly held
my breath. But the gambler re
sumed his flow of talk, while he
fingered the cards as if totally
unaware that they had been
tampered with.
“Now, again, ladies and gen
tlemen. You see how it is done.
You back your eyes, and you win.
I find that l aliall have to close
early to-night. Make your hay
while the sun shines. Who’ll be
in on this turn! Watch the
queen of hearts. I place her here.
I coax the three cards a lit
tle-” he gave a swift flour
ish. “ There they are ’ ’
His audience hesitated, as if
fearful of a trick, for the bent
corner of the queen, raising this
end a little, was plain to us who
knew. It was absurdly plain.
“I’ll pick out the queen ag'in
for a dollar.”
“I’ll go you another, Mister,”
Jim responded.
The gambler smiled grimly
and shrugged his shoulders.
“Ob, pshaw, sir. These are
small stakes. You’ll never get
rich at that rate and neither shall
I.”
“I reckon I can set my own
limit,” Jim grumbled.
“Yes, sir. But let’s have
action. 'Who’ll join this gentle
man in his guesst Who’ll back
his luckf He's a winner, I admit
that.”
The gray eyes dwelt upon face
and face of our half circle; and
still I, too, hesitated, although
my dollar was burning a hole in
my pocket.
My Lady whispered to me.
“All’i fair in love and wat
Here—pul in*-, on, with youra.
for me.” She slipped a dollar ol
i her own into my hand.
Another man stepped forward,
lie was, I judged, a teamster
His clothes, of flannel shirt, belt
ed trousers and six-shooter and
dusty boots, so indicated. And
his beard was shaggy and un
; kempt, almost covering his face
! wulerneath his drooping slouch
hat.
“I'll stake you a dollar,” he
said.
“Two from me,” I heard my
self saying, and I saw my hand
depositing them.
“You’re all on this gentle
man’s card, remember?”
We nodded. The bearded man
tipped me a wink.
“You, sir, then, turn the queen
if you can,” the gambler chal
lenged of Jim.
With quick movement Jim
flopped the bent-corner card,
8nd the queen herself seemed to
wink jovially at us.
The gambler exclaimed.
“By God, gentlemen, but
you’ve skinned mi again. I’m
clumsy to-night. I’d better
quit.” And he scarcely varied
his level tone despite the chuckles
of the crowd. “You must let me
try once more. But I warn you,
I want action. I’m willing to
meet any sum you stack up
against me, if it’s large enough
to spell action. Shall we go
another round or two before 1
close up?” He gathered the
three cards. “ You see the queen
—my unlucky queen of hearts.
Here she is.” He stowed the card
between thumb and finger,
“Here are the other two.” He
held them up in his left hand—
j the eight of clubs, the eight of
spades. He transferred them—
j with his rapid motion he strewed
| the three. “Choose the queen,
i I put the game to you fair and
square. There are the cards.
■ Maybe you can read their backs.
That’s your privilege.” He fixed
: his eyes upon the teamster. “You,
| sir; where’s your money, half of
! which was mine?” He glanced
! at Jim. “And you, sir? You’ll
follow your luck?” Lastly he
surveyed me with a flash of
'steely bravado. “And you,
i young gentleman You came in
! before. I dare you.”
The bent corner was more pro
nounced than ever, as if aggra
vated by the manipulations. It
could not possibly be mistaken
‘ by the knowing. And a sudden
shame possessed me—a glut of
this crafty advantage to which I
was stooping; an advantage
gained not through my own wit,
either, but through the dishonor
able trick of another.
“There’s your half from me, if
you want it,” said Jim, slapping
down two dollars. “This is my
night to howl.”
For Favors Received.
Mae: "My modiste wrote to my hue
band eaylng she would make no more
dresses for me until my account was
settled."
Rae: "And what did hubby dot"
Mae: "Oh, he Just sent her a letter
of thapks.”
Sympathetic Interest.
From the Kansas City Star.
"The dismemberment of Germany
seems at hand," remarked Prof. Pate.
“The people are starving, the Separat
ists are In rebellion, the monarchists
are rising, the treasury is smptjr and
a foreign foe has seised the Mineral
resources of the country.”
"tTh-huh!" returned J Fuller Gloom
"Looks somewh.at like rain, off to the
southwest, doesn’t It?"
Understanding Hiram
From the Anaconda Standard.
If we get Hiram aright, Calvin
Coolidge could mnke the finest liv
ing ex-President of the United States.
Plenty of That.
From the Duluth Herald.
About the only thing European na
tions now have In common la a lack
of confidence in the other fellow.
An Exooption.
From the American Legion Weekly.
Rub: "Ignorance of the law excueee
no one.”
Dub: “I wonder how my lawyer es
caped." _
Outside th« Law.
From the Topeka Capital.
A salesmanltks looking inspector was
surprised to And a dirty roller towel
in the washroom. Indignantly hs said
to the landlord:
“Don't you know that it has been
against the law for years to put up a
roller towel?"
"Sure. I know it," replied the pro
Srletor. “but no ex-posto law goes In
iansas and that there towel was put
up before the law was passed."
Reasonable.
From Punch.
Golfer (whose unknown opponent has
driven a straight 250 yards from the
first tee—“Say. does he often do that?"
Caddie—“It’s all right, sir—'Is foot
slipped.'’_ _ _
From the Telegraph Table.
Frank Weaver, Kansas University's
"oldest student," Is dead, Mr. Weaver,
who obtained his engineering degree
from the university at the age of 81
years, last June, died of pneumonia at
bis home In Pueblo, Colo, recently.
Weaver, a civil war veteran, had com
pleted two years at the university prior,
to 1871, then took up practical work.
Having found a perfect rib roast, ons
cut from “Broadus White Sock* " grand
chamPtol> steer of the recent livestock
exhibition In Chicago, Dean Munford of
the University of Illinois has refused to
eat it. but will have It preserved in
aloohol in the university laboratory. Ha
• says he wishes the students to have an
opportunity to study
portions of fat cud leaJ
| in the roast.
BANKERS WILL
MEET C00LI9GE
NEXT MONDAY
Fifty Financiers Expected to
Attend Conference Called
In Washington
BY JOHN A. KENNEDY
Special Tribune Correspondent
Washington, Jan. 28.—-The adminis
tration’s conference for rehabilitating
the banking structure of the middle
northwest will be held here next
Monday. President Coolidge an
nounced Monday.
Decision to invite some 60 finaclal
and business leaders on that date was
reached following a conference be
tween the president, Secretary#
Hoover, Mellon and Wallace, Comp
troller of Currency Dawes, George
Janies, members of the Federal Re
serve board, and Governor Crissinger
of the Federal Reserve board. The
main object of the meeting will be
to demonstrate to insurance, railroad,
mortgage and banking Interests just
how the straightening out of the fi
nancial tangle in the northwest will
benefit the country generally.
Use "Big Stock”
It is also known that at this time
President Coolidge will devise means
of using the “Big Stick” on the larger
banking interests In his plan to com
pel they to join in the government’s
program of relief for the middle
northwest.
Secretary Hoover, who Is in charge
of arrangements foe next Monday’s
conference, will issue further details
of his plans Tuesday, it was said at
his office Monday evening.
It became known Monday that the
Federal Reserve board held two im
portant meetings here Saturday, fol
lowing the return of members James
and Cunningham, who participated in
the Chicago meeting a week ago.
The main purpose of the meeting was
to devise methods by which the board
can come- to the aid of Dakotas’
banking situation.
Board Expected to Act.
It is thought that the Federal Re
serve board will send out orders to
its Chicago and Minneapolis banks
to loosen up In acceptances of some
of the slower paper now in the hands
of individual banks. Idaho, and
Montana Agricultural interest, repre
sented -by delegations from those two
states, had conferences with the
president Monday, urging aid for the
stricken region.
The progressive group in the Sen
ate, composed of the nine senators
from the middle northwest, elected
during the past two years, sent out a
request to farming interests asking
what type of legislation would best
suit the farmer at the present time.
They expect to have the answers
to the questions when the agricul
tural committees make their report.
PARIS AROUSED
BY PLAIN TALK
FROM BRITAIN
Break in Relations of Two
Governments Regarded
As Possibility
Paris, Jan. 28.—“A violent rupture
of the Franco-Brltish relations must
not be excluded from the possibilities
of tomorrow,” is the comment of the
famous editor, Pertinax, In Echo De
Paris, Monday morning.
This accurately sums up the feel
ing in official circles following the
publication of an Interview with
Premier Ramsay MacDonald, of Eng
gland. In the socialist paper Quott
dlen, In which the British premier
declared to France In plain language:
“The moral and material encour
agement given by France to small
nations is likely to make a new war
inevitable.
“The British people are-wondering,
In all sincerity, whether England will
not find It necessary to undertake
new military measures and find
other alliances.”
The interview was followed up by
Premier MacDonald sounding out
Premier Poincare through an inter
mediary In the person of the Beligan
Foreign Minister Jaspar Sunday, re
garding the British government’s plan
for putting the Rhine frontier under
the League of Nations.
Poincare, a nationalist, and Mac
Donald, an Internationalist, are as
far apart as the two poles, neutral
diplomats here say, and the only
hope seen for the maintenance of tho
entente would be the creation In
France of a radical socialist goven
ment with M. Serrlot as premier.
Scrrlot's views in many particulars
conolde with those of Premiei Mac
Donald.
The present French foreign office
greets the reported plan of the British
premier with complete skepticism
and, it is stated, will not agree to
the British project for an internation
al conference unless the subject of
the Ruhr is barred from discussion.
Milady May Have CigareS
To Match Her Gown Now
New York. Jan. 28. (U. P.)—
Women smoked 7,000,000,000 clgar
ets in 1923, according to the na
tional tobacco exposition in session
here, so it was decided there should
bo something new and special In
cigarets henceforth for milady.
That’s why vari-colored cigaretes—
anything to match any gown—came
Into vogue today. Cerise, lemon peach
blossom, black and crimson are
among the popular shades.
I
i
I
I
----i
Britain Growing Tobacco
As a matter of civic pride and in
the interest of industrial development*
Great Britain is making sUaatrous ef
•fort to grow tobacco os a commercial
scale and to Inculcate into the British
Inhabitants a taste for the local week.
Great Britain, since the day when
Sir Walter Raleigh introduced smok
ing, lias been getting her tobacco
mainly from Havana, Jamaica, Nigeria
and Virginia plantations. In fact,
Great Britain once got finer leaf than
did any American cigar makers.
DEMAND “BAYER” ASPIRIN
Take Tablet* Without Fear If You
See the Safety “Bayer Cross."
Warning! Unless you see the name
“Bayer” on package or on tablets you
are not getting the genuine Bayer
Aspirin proved safe by millions and
prescribed by physicians for 23 year*.
Say “Bayer” when you buy Aspirin.
Imitations may prove dangerous.—Adv.
A man isn’t necessarily brilliant be
cause he sits down and reflects occa
sionally.
“CASCARETS” FOR LIVER
AND BOWELS—lOo A BOX
Cures Biliousness, Constipation, Rich
Headache,Indigestion. Drugstores. Adv,
Lamb with green peas suits soma
men, but the bucket shop prefers iamb
with greenbacks.
Mrs. Eliza Teeter
| HAVE YOU A COUGH?
What This Woman Says is of Vita)
Interest to You
Goehen, Ind.—“I had coughed night
and day for a whole year and had lost so
much flesh I began to look like a walking
skeleton. Two of my sisters had died
from tuberculosis and I felt certain that
my time had come. Finally, a friend re
commended Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical
Discovery to my husband, and it made
pie feel new strength and vitality right
from the start and m a year’s time I was
lust as strong and hardy as ever. I
have never suffered with a deep, hack
ing cough since (that was about 20 years
ago) and have always felt very grateful
to Dr. Pierce."—Mrs. Eliza Teeter, 413
Middlebury St.
Whenever you feel the need of good
confidential medical advice, address Dr.
Pierce, president Invalids’ Hotel, Buffalo
N. Y., and answer will be returned with*
out slnxge of any kind.
