Page:Melville Davisson Post--The Man of Last Resort.djvu/59

Rh broken, a branded, a long-suffering cow pony of Satan, you have the blindest, most stupendous Presbyterian faith in Providence of any white creature ambling south of the Central Pacific Railroad; but you 're sweetening on a bluff this hand, and I am going to call you.”

The gambler's face grew serious. “What are you prodding for, Ned?” he asked.

The Auditor leaned forward on the table. “You are planning to slide out,” he said, “and it don't go.”

“Would it hurt you or Al?” asked the gambler anxiously.

The Auditor reached over and placed his hand on Hergan's arm. “It would not hurt me,” he continued, “and it would be no bones if it did, but it would hurt the boy, and he must not be hurt. Don't you know that the moment you are gone, Randal will sacrifice everything he possesses and pay up the deficit? And that would ruin him.”

The gambler's face lengthened. “I had not thought about that,” he said slowly, “but you are right, he would do that. He is that sort of a man. I have been a fool, an infernal