Page:Hugh Pendexter--Tiberius Smith.djvu/63

 a manner that caused his owner to pat himself and eject a few gutturals of admiration. Probably the Arctic Circle never before saw such grace as was contained in Tib's famous Chinese riffle.

"Then we met with an obstacle that seemed insurmountable. Tib had no chips. His host had lost everything but his personal weapons and his dogs. Tib motioned for the latter, but Goliath slipped his face into a frown and shook his head. Tib insisted, and in a seductive pantomime represented all of the bow-wows in the fiord as ultimately crossing the rug to the home side. My owner then chipped in and expressed a willingness to put up his canines in turn. I think he was a bit afraid of Tib, but he was an inveterate gambler and evidently believed the luck was with him. Reluctantly, Tib's owner gave way, and it was agreed between the chiefs, and in sign language on Tib's part, that one big dog was equal to five pups, and that five dogs should be the limit. With this understanding they began to draw cards.

"They made me move to one side so that I could not read my boss's hand, and then Tib let the first pot go without making a bet, thereby losing his ante of two puppies. My master smiled hideously and the other monolith gave a howl of anger and held his spear against Tib's neck.

"‘I guess rd better take the next pot,' remarked