Isn't that so?"

The rest nodded assent. They had been so engaged that they did not see
a woman enter the bar from behind, and crouch down beside Lady Jane,
a woman whom the latter touched affectionately on the shoulder and
whispered to once or twice, while she watched the preparations for the
game.

The two men sat down, Shon facing the bar and Pierre with his back to it.

The game began, neither man showing a sign of nervousness, though Shon
was very pale. The game was to finish for ten points. Men crowded about
the tables silent but keenly excited; cigars were chewed instead of
smoked, and liquor was left undrunk. At the first deal Pierre made a
march, securing two. At the next Shon made a point, and at the next also
a march. The half-breed was playing a straight game. He could have
stacked the cards, but he did not do so; deft as he was he might have
cheated even the vigilant eyes about him, but it was not so; he played as
squarely as a novice. At the third, at the fourth, deal he made a march;
at the fifth, sixth, and seventh deals, Shon made a march, a point, and a
march. Both now had eight points. At the next deal both got a point,
and both stood at nine!

Now came the crucial play.

During the progress of the game nothing had been heard save the sound of
a knuckle on the table, the flip flip of the pasteboard, or the rasp of a
heel on the floor. There was a set smile on Shon's face--a forgotten
smile, for the rest of the face was stern and tragic. Pierre smoked
cigarettes, pausing, while his opponent was shuffling and dealing, to