In an evil hour Graeme met a
companion of other and evil days, and it was not long till the old fever
came upon him.
In vain Nelson warned and pleaded. The reaction from the monotony and
poverty of camp life to the excitement and luxury of the San Francisco
gaming palaces swung Graeme quite off his feet, and all that Nelson
could do was to follow from place to place and keep watch.
'And there he would sit,' said Graeme in a hard, bitter voice, 'waiting
and watching often till the grey morning light, while my madness held me
fast to the table. One night,' here he paused a moment, put his face in
his hands and shuddered; but quickly he was master of himself again, and
went on in the same hard voice--'One night my partner and I were playing
two men who had done us up before. I knew they were cheating, but could
not detect them. Game after game they won, till I was furious at my
stupidity in not being able to catch them. Happening to glance at Nelson
in the corner, I caught a meaning look, and looking again, he threw me
a signal.
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