"It means," he returned, "that they had little enough chance to
win at a straight game of roulette. But this wheel wasn't even
straight with all the odds in favor of the bank, as they are
naturally. This game was electrically controlled. Others are
mechanically controlled by what are called the 'mule's ear,' and
other devices. You CAN'T win. These wires and magnets can be made
to attract the little ball into any pocket the operator desires.
Each one of the pockets contains an electro-magnet. One set of
electro-magnets in the red pockets is connected with one button
under the carpet and a set of batteries. The other series of
little magnets in the black pockets is connected with another
button and the batteries."

He had picked up the little ball. "This ball," he said as he
examined it, "is not really of ivory, but of a composition that
looks like ivory, coating a hollow, soft-iron ball inside. Soft
iron is attracted by an electro-magnet. Whichever set of magnets
is energized attracts the ball and by this simple method it is in
the power of the operator to let the ball go to red or black as he
may wish. Other similar arrangements control the odd or even, and
other combinations, also from push buttons. There isn't an honest
gambling machine in the whole place. The whole thing is crooked
from start to finish,--the men, the machines,----"

"Then a fellow never had a chance?" repeated Dillon.

"Not a chance," emphasized Garrick.

We gathered about and gazed at magnets and wires, the buttons and