"long ride home" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

Lily Carfather dropped her eyes. "Well-" she hesitated.
"Lily!" The older woman was shocked. "You wouldn't."
"On the contrary-" her chin lifted defiantly-"I believe I shall!"
Ronald Starrett shuffled the cards and handed them to Harper for the cut. No limit
was set, the Kid noticed, as play began. Picking up his cards the Kid found himself
with a pair of jacks.
9
The Cactus Kid Pays a Debt
The Cactus Kid had lost his innocence where cards were concerned in Tascosa when
he was sixteen, and as this game proceeded, he grew increasingly interested. He stayed
even, while his observant eyes noted that the end of the middle finger on Starrett's
left hand was missing. Also, Mr. Harper played a shrewd and careful game, while behind
the seeming innocence of Lily Carfather was considerable card savvy.
Suddenly the Kid found himself holding three nines. He considered them, decided to
stay and on the draw picked up a pair of jacks. He won a small pot. And he won the
next two hands.
"You're lucky, Mr. Clay," Starrett suggested, smiling. "Well, maybe we'll get some
of it back later."
The Kid drew nothing on the following hand and threw in, but on the next he won a
fair-sized pot. He found himself feeling a little like a missionary being banqueted
by cannibals. He lost a little, won some more and found himself almost a hundred
dollars ahead. He was not surprised when Starrett dealt him four kings and a trey.
He tossed in the trey, drew a queen and began to bet.
After two rounds of betting, Harper dropped out. Starrett had taken two cards as
had Lily. On the next round, with both the Kid and Lily raising, Starrett dropped
out. On the showdown Lily had four aces. She gathered in the pot, winning more than
a hundred dollars from the Kid alone.
Harper dealt and the Kid lost again, then Lily dealt and the Kid glanced at his cards
and tossed them into the discard. The fun was over now and he was slated for the
axe. When it came his turn to deal, he shuffled and easily built up a bottom stock
from selected discards, passed the cards to Lily for the cut, then picked up the
deck and shifted the cut in a smoothly done movement and proceeded to deal swiftly,
building his own hand from the bottom until he held the three he wanted.
Harper threw in his hand but Starrett and Lily stayed. The Kid gave Starrett three,
Lily two, and himself-from the bot
10
8Louis L'Amour
torn-two. Picking up his hand he looked into the smug faces of a royal flush.
Lily glanced at her hand. "I want to raise it twenty dollars," she said sweetly.
"I'll see that and raise it ten," the Kid offered, "I feel lucky."
The pot built up until it contained almost four hundred dollars. Starrett called
with a full house and Lily followed with a small straight. Coolly, the Kid placed
his royal flush on the table and gathered in the pot.
Harper bit the end from his cigar and Lily's face grew pale, her eyes very bright.
Starrett's face flushed dull red and his eyes grew angry. "You're very lucky!" he
sneered.
It was Starrett's deal and the Kid knew it was coming right at him. And it came,
starting with three aces. Coolly, he tossed in his hand and Starrett fumbled a card.
Lily smiled icily at the Kid. "What's the matter?" she asked, too sweetly. "Not lucky
this time?"