Shuffling the pack well, he spread them out like a fan and held the cards so that some of the faces could be seen by Roche.

"You see um jack of hearts?" he asked.

"Yes," was the reply.

"Allee light; you allee samee lemember um jack of hearts."

Then he gave the cards another shuffle, and in doing it one of them slipped up his sleeve un.o.bserved by any one.

There was really nothing wonderful about this, since there was a thin piece of elastic attached to the card, and the moment it was released it left the pack.

As might be supposed, it was the jack of hearts.

But Hop had another jack of hearts, as he needed it to carry out the trick.

He kept this one concealed in his hand and pa.s.sed the deck to Roche, saying:

"You pickee outee um jack of hearts and me allee samee showee how me makee fly away."

The man quickly looked over the cards and found that the jack of hearts was not among them.

"I reckon you took it when no one was looking," he said, with a smile.

"That is not much of a trick; I could do that myself."

"Me no takee," declared the Celestial, putting on a look of surprise.

"Maybe allee samee dlop on um floor."

He got up from his chair, and then, dropping upon his hands and knees, began looking around on the floor under the table.

While doing this he cleverly slipped the card he had in his hand into the boot-top of Roche.

Then, before he got up, he pulled the card that had the elastic attached to it from his sleeve and held it so the elastic was concealed.

"Here um card," he said, as he showed it to every one. "Me puttee in um pack, so be."

Roche was watching him closely, for he knew that the Chinaman was up to something, and he was certain that the card went into the pack.

But it did not.

It slipped up Hop sleeve the same as it had done the first time.

"Now you findee um jack of hearts," he said, smilingly.

Roche nodded and proceeded to look for it.

"It isn't here," he said, looking surprised.

"You wantee tly foolee poor Chinee," Hop declared, putting on an injured look. "You takee um card and puttee in your boot, so be."

"What's that?" cried Roche, half angrily. "Do you mean to say that I stole the card from the pack?"

"Me allee samee bettee ten dollee you gottee um card somewhere, so be!"

was the quick retort.

"You will, eh? All right. I'm a betting man, I am. It don't make any difference who I bet with, either. I'll bet you ten dollars that I haven't got the card on me. If one has got it you're the one, for you are doing the trick."

Hop held up both hands and threw open his coat, to show that he did not have it.

Then he laid ten dollars on the table.

"Boys," said Roche, looking at those around him, "I don't know just what kind of a game I am up against; but I do know that I haven't got that card anywhere on my person. I feel so sure of it that I'll bet a hundred dollars instead of ten!"

"Allee light."

As quick as a wink Hop's hand went into his pocket and out came a roll of bills.

He quickly counted out ninety dollars more and put it on the table.

Roche immediately covered it, and then, rising to his feet, he moved away from the table and called out:

"Hoker, come here and search me. If you find the jack of hearts anywhere on me the Chinaman wins. If you don't find it I win."

"Lat light," said Hop, nodding to the boss of the place.

Hoker came forward and proceeded to go through the man's pockets.

He did not find the card in any of the pockets, so he went on down and tried the boot-tops.

Then it was that he pulled out a card from one of them.

"Here she is, Cap!" he exclaimed, as he arose and held out the card so all could see it. "Here's ther jack of hearts!"

"Tricked, by thunder!" exclaimed Roche, as Hop smiled and put the money in his pocket.

"Mighty clever, I should say," ventured Sedgwick. "Cap, yer shouldn't have bet."

"I couldn't help it," was the reply. "But I know how it was done. He put the card in my bootleg when he was looking around under the table."

"No; that couldn't be," declared the saloon keeper. "He put ther card in ther pack after that. An' I'll swear that he wasn't near enough ter put it on you after that, even if he had it in his hand."

"Well, that is true, come to think of it. But he got it there, somehow."

Roche took the card and looked it over.

Then he picked up the pack and compared the backs of the cards with the one he held in his hand.

"I lose the hundred, that's all," he exclaimed. "But I'll bet another hundred he can't work that trick again!"