degen'rates of the tribe of Silver Phil. It's the difference between
right an' wrong; one works from a impulse of pure jestice, the other is
moved of a sperit of crime; an' thar you be.

"Silver Phil, we learns later--an' it shore jestifies Peets in his
theories about him bein' a degen'rate--has been in plenty of blood.
But allers like a cat; savage, gore-thirsty, yet shy, prideless, an'
ready to fly. It seems he begins to be homicidal in a humble way by
downin' a trooper over near Fort Cummings. That's four years before he
visits us. He's been blazin' away intermittent ever since, and allers
crooel, crafty an' safe. It's got to be a shore thing or Silver Phil
quits an' goes into the water like a mink.

"This yere ondersized miscreant ain't ha'nted about Wolfville more'n
four days before he shows how onnecessary he is to our success. Which
he works a ha'r copper on Cherokee Hall. What's a ha'r copper? I'll
onfold, short and terse, what Silver Phil does, an' then you saveys.
Cherokee's dealin' his game--farobank she is; an' if all them national
banks conducts themse'fs as squar' as that enterprise of Cherokee's,
the fields of finance would be as safely honest as a church.
Cherokee's turnin' his game one evenin'; Faro Nell on the lookout stool
where she belongs. Silver Phil drifts up to the lay-out, an' camps
over back of the king-end. He gets chips, an' goes to takin' chances
alternate on the king, queen, jack, ten; all side an' side they be.
Cherokee bein' squar' himse'f ain't over-prone to expect a devious play
in others. He don't notice this Silver Phil none speshul, an' shoves
the kyards.

"Silver Phil wins three or four bets; it's Nell that catches on to his
racket, an' signs up to Cherokee onder the table with her little foot.