When finally they arose, some one proposed a game of draw poker
and insisted upon Kirk's joining. He was about to refuse when
Weeks drew him aside to say:
"Don't let the money question stand in your way, Kirk. You're my
guest, and your I.O.U. is as good as a government bond; so go as
far as you like."
A considerable portion of Anthony's time in college had been
devoted to a course in draw poker--recitations, so to speak, being
conducted in the upper rooms of a Greek letter "frat," and he
cherished the belief that he had at least learned to distinguish a
spade flush from an "Arkansas blaze." But he soon found that these
men had forgotten more about the game than he could ever hope to
learn at any university, and when the crowd broke up at midnight
he signed his name to a tab for forty dollars.
Early the next day the following cablegram was left at the
American Consulate:
WEEKS, Consul, Colon.
Anthony absent, returns Friday.
COPLEY.
"Copley is the Governor's secretary," Kirk explained. "That means
that I'll miss the Santa Cruz and have to wait another week."
"I'm delighted," the consul said, heartily.
"Perhaps you could stake me to a ticket. I'll remit when I get to
New York."
"My pay isn't due for a fortnight," Weeks explained after an
instant's hesitation.
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