"Poker,"  said  the  Colonel,  "depends  mostly  on
what  you  Americans  call  bluff.  A  bluff,  as  I  un-
derstand it,  is  making  the  others  think  you  have
them  when  you  haven't,  or  you  haven't  got  them
when  you  have.  In  one  case  you  scare  them,  in
the  other  you  fish.  You're  getting  flushed,  my
son;  you'll  have  a  headache  to-night;  and  in  an
hour  you  start."

An  hour !  There  was  fever  in  Maurice's  veins,
but  it  was  not  caused  wholly  by  the  heat  of  the
wine.  How  should  he  manage  it?  He  must
have  that  revolver.
"Call?    What  have  you  got?"  asked  the  Colonel.
"Three  kings — no,  by  George !  only  a  pair.  I
thought  a  queen  was  a  king.  My  head's  begin-


ning  to  get  shaky.  Colonel,  I  believe  I  am  get-
ting drunk."

"I  am  sure  of  it."

Maurice  got  up  and  rolled  in  an  extraordinary
fashion,  but  he  was  careful  not  to  overdo  it.  He
began  to  sing.  The  Colonel  got  up,  too,  and  he
was  laughing.  Maurice  accidentally  knocked  over
some  empty  bottles;  he  kicked  them  about.
"Sh !"  cried  the  Colonel,  coming  around  the
table;  "you'll  stampede  the  horses."

Maurice  staggered  toward  him,  and  the  Colonel
caught  him  in  his  arms.  Maurice  suddenly  drew
back,  and  the  Colonel  found  himself  looking  into
the  cavernous  tube  of  his  own  revolver.  Not  a
muscle  in  his  face  moved.
"Take   off  your   coat,"   said   Maurice,   quietly.
The  Colonel  complied.  "You  are  not  so  very
drunk  just  now."

"No.  It  was  one  of  those  bluffs  when  you
make  them  think  you  haven't  them  when  you
have."

"What  next?"  asked  the  Colonel.
