Page:Saga of Billy the Kid.djvu/257

"I'm a system player," chortled the Kid.

"System ain't workin' right to-day."

"It's pulled me out of many a hole. May do it again. Never can tell."

The Kid edged over a few inches farther toward the centre of the table-a few inches closer to Bell.

"I'll beat this deal yet," he said. "No game's lost, Bell, till the last card's played."

Again a cryptic little smile hovered for a moment at the corner of his mouth, which Bell didn't see, being busy dealing. And again the Kid hunched over slightly nearer the centre of the table—slightly nearer Bell.

Bell pulled out the jack of hearts and laid it on the table.

"Jack of hearts, eh?" laughed Billy. "That's my lucky card."

"Luck run in hearts?"

"In bullets mostly. But in hearts sometimes. Knock off the limit, Bell. Make it the ceiling. I'll bust the bank on this play or lose my last white chip."

Bell shook his head with a good-natured laugh.

"Ten matches are the limit."

"Once over in San Patricio," remarked Billy, "when I was dealing monte——"

He reached out his manacled hands to place his wager of ten matches when, seemingly by accident, he brushed the jack of hearts off on to the floor at Bell's left side.

"Didn't mean to do that, Bell," he apologized. "Hard to play with handcuffs on like this."

"That's all right, Kid. I'll get it."

Bell bent over to pick up the card. Holding the deck in his left hand, he reached for the card with his right.