Some inner foreboding
tells Valois there is danger in the gambling duel of the two men he
watches. As he forces his way in, Charlie, dashing a last handful
of gold upon the red, turns his ferocious eyes on Hardin. The
lawyer calmly waits the turn of the arrow. Some quick presentiment
reaches the mind of the woman. Her nerves are shaken with the strain
of long repression. The arrow trembles on the line in stopping.
The queen's eyes, for the first time, catch the burning glances of
Philip Hardin. "French Charlie," with an oath, grasps the hand of
the woman. She is raking in his lost coins before paying Hardin's
bet. It is his last handful of gold.
Maddened with drink and his losses, Charlie yields to jealousy
of his victorious neighbor. "French Charlie" roughly twists the
wrist of the woman. With a sharp shriek, she snatches the dagger
from her bosom. She draws it over the back of the gambler's hand.
He howls with pain. Like a flash he tears a knife from his bosom.
He springs around the table toward the woman. With a loud scream,
she jumps back toward the wall. She seeks to save herself, casting
golden showers on the floor, in a rattling avalanche. Before the
ready hireling desperadoes of the haunt can seize Charlie, the
affrighted circle scatters.
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