size of his bankroll." The speaker was evidently a miner, for he
carried a bulky pack upon his shoulders. He placed a heavy palm
over the back of Phillips' hand, then extracted from the depths of
his overalls a fat roll of paper money.

The size of this wager, together with the determination of its
owner, appeared briefly to nonplus the dealer. He voiced a
protest, but the miner forcibly overbore it:

"Say, I eat up this shell stuff!" he declared. "It's my meat, and
I've trimmed every tinhorn that ever came to my town. There's
three hundred dollars; you cover it, and you cover this boy's bet,
too." The fellow winked reassuringly at Phillips. "You heard him
say the sky was his limit, didn't you? Well, let's see how high
the sky is in these parts!"

There was a movement in the crowd, whereupon the speaker cried,
warningly: "Boosters, stand back! Don't try to give us the elbow,
or I'll close up this game!" To Pierce he murmured,
confidentially: "We've got him right. Don't let anybody edge you
out." He put more weight upon Phillips' hand and forced the young
man closer to the table.

Pierce had no intention of surrendering his place, and now the
satisfaction of triumphing over these crooks excited him. He
continued to cover the walnut-shell while with his free hand he
drew his own money from his pocket. He saw that the owner of the
game was suffering extreme discomfort at this checkmate, and he
enjoyed the situation.