The Son of his Father

no signs of the impatience and irritability he was really enduring. A seraphic contentment alone shone in his clear blue eyes. He was a picture of the youthful convic

untidy, notwithstanding the fact that he had washed himself, and brushed his hair, many times in the cramped compartment of the train devoted to that purpose. Then he would fling himself int

He had eaten cheaply in the dining-car. He had smoked one of the delicious cigars, from the box which the faithful Harding had secret

and shook, and jolted its ponderous way on across t

lous cyphers representing one hundred thousand dollars. If only they were numerals. Nice, odd numerals. He

days' journey, and wondered hopelessly how many mor

icket, Gordon supposed. That tearing off was most interesting. He wonde

fortune, the making of a rapid fortune. But how?

isfied, and was certainly bursting with authority and adipose tissue. He wondered if he couldn't an

down upon him. It reached his "pew," dropped into t

is eyes with a

e?" he deman

n' the deep sea, I guess," gr

ed, breathing heavily. He displayed not the slightest sign of the annoyance desired. At last Gordon turned out the inside pocket of his coat. The first thing he discovered among

h produced

on. "Anyway, we're told it's the right place

icket, while Gordon returned

ured. Then he looked into the now smiling f

a ticket to Seattle if I were," G

. "I knew one guy was for Seattle. I was kind o' wond

rt. Puget Sound," said

allin' down. Wher' it rains nigh six months o' the year, an' parboils you the rest. Wher' eve

able as Gordon's had been, and the challeng

o,'" he said cheerfully. The man's

the head. "It's as ridiculous as startin' fer hell in summer time. You'll make

ng up for-ten months?

nds on you

of c

came back to his surroundings. He stared at the heads of his fellow travelers dotting the tops of the seats about him. Then his eyes dropped to his grip on the opposite seat lying under his overcoat, and again, l

ind in the names an inspiration for the accomplishment of his purpose. There had been so many that his amazed head had been set whirling. There he had stood, wondering

rs in an advertisement. "The Yukon." Of course. It was the one and only place in

ation. Now he certainly was convinced that he was own brother to the finest bred jackass in the whole wide world. However, th

ing in his behalf. It was the same Providence that looks after drunken men and imbeciles. Half an hour later it impel

ion. A haze of tobacco smoke blurred his view, but at once he became

his had a fellow, too, but the eye belonging to the fellow was concealed beneath what wa

of iron-gray hair at one end, and an aggressively tufted chin beard at the othe

it, and a heavy gold watchchain and a large diamond pin in the neckwear suggested opulence.

attention. He was amusing himself by shooting "crap" on a baize-covered traveling-table. Both men were smoking hard, and, by

n appeared not to notice his approach at all, and continued to labor on

again, as he flung the dice on the

, and at last he raised a pair of

d bones," he said briefly,

on s

things. It's l

ued his muttered demands. Gordon flung his traps into another seat, and s

ence of One Eye remain

come up, and finall

ent. As you say, the hull blamed thing is chance. Sevens, or any other old things 'll just come up

lled teeth in another ami

The disarming ingenuousness of his manner and speech. These things meant nothing to him. The men he knew were as ready to win or lose a few hundred do

ne Eye blink. But the black-eyed stranger promptly covered it, and picked up the dice. He s

ev,'" he

t in the two dollars. In a moment he had replace

s of that," he said,

on them for a seven each time the man threw. The play became absorbing, and One Eye, from across

egan to win. He won consistently for awhile, and nearly tw

ollowed each throw, and talked the jargon of the game like any gambler. All his boredom with the journey was gone. His quest was thrust into the background. Noth

rdon utterly lacked. He talked to the dice as they fell in a manner quite devoid of enthusiasm, and as though muttering a formula from mere habit

e game from the co

aused to watch the game. Presently he pas

en. Then to five. The stranger threw a run of "sevens." Then the dice passed. But Gordon l

bills. Now and again he pulled in a win, but always, it seemed, to lose two successive throws immediately afterwards. There were

s," he said, after one such loss

ings," replied the s

e smiled to himself, an

nce. And the stranger never failed to tempt him that way when they were his

on's losses. Still the game went on. He passed the

of smoke. They were standing in the aisle. They were sitting on the arms of the

nger's seat was jerked from his balance and sprawled on the player. In his efforts to save himself he grabbed at the table, which promptly toppled. The gambler ma

nced on them. Then one word escaped him, and his face went dea

ade

But now the patch was entire

ect sounded dull and sodden. The gambler's head jolted backwards, and he felt as though his neck had been broken. Then the baize-covered table was proje

he animal was stirred to of

humorously the tangle of humanity as it moved, with lightning rapidity, all over the car. Once, as the battle s

sledge-hammer pounding of superior gunnery in warfare. He hit when and where he pleased, and warded the wilder blows of his opponent with almost unconcern. But the narrownes

ely out of the window. He gathered up his belongings, a

ing the fight-and

trove to ward off the blows which fell upon his features like a hailstorm. Gordon, with superlative ferocity, was bent on leaving them unrecognizable. It was

made a run for the door as th

Neither saw nor cared that one of the doors was suddenly flung open. Neither saw the ru

ething h