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 know; probably he'd a lot of prospects chalked on his board ahead of me; probably he felt he'd wait until he could put in the time to make proper preparation to appear as me. He guessed he had a great chance for a big haul; and—he made it."

Jerry went pale and looked down. "There's many more marked up on Keeban's board and on others'. I know some of the names marked up and something about what's going to occur to them. It's a little like sitting in on fate, Steve," he said, color coming back to his face, "to see this man's number and that creeping up to the top of the board; to a limited extent, one knows what's behind to-morrow, what's going to happen. Here's a man you know and I know and, to all appearances, he's sitting secure; but on Harry Vine's board, we'll say, his number is up toward the top. He doesn't guess it and you can't nor anybody else in the city; but at a certain time, and at a certain place and exactly in one way, he's going to die; and that's all there is to it."

"Who're you talking about, Jerry?" I demanded.

He changed swiftly. "Nobody; just talk. What was I up here for, anyway?"