He's got a measly
pair of deuces! Then he reads the letter and hands it back to me. 'Is it
as bad as all that?' he says. 'See that other five and raise you
twenty.' 'You're too strong for me Red,' says the gent that was bucking
him--and lays down to that pair of deuces! I read the letter:
"'Dear Mr. Perris,
"'I know you don't like to hire out. But this is a job where you won't
have a boss. The chestnut horse that nearly killed Manuel Cordova--
Alcatraz--has come to my ranch and stolen half a dozen valuable mares.
Will you come up and try to get rid of him for me? The job seems to be
too big for my men. Name your own terms.
"'Cordially yours,
"'Marianne Jordan.'
"I hands him back the letter while he rakes in his winnings. 'I wouldn't
go as far as she does about the men she's got,' I says, 'but the hoss is
sure a fast thinking, fast moving devil.'
"'Well,' says he, 'it sort of sounds good to me. Soon as this game busts
up we'll start. They's only four of us. Won't you take a hand?'
"Well, that game run on forty hours. Every time I got busted he staked
me agin like a millionaire. But finally we was both flat.
"'All right,' says he, 'I got a purse light enough for travel now.
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