CHAPTER XXV
THE JUDGMENT OF THE IVORY BALL
NOW there came to Bill Steele the hot desire to smash Joe Embry, smash him good and hard. Not for that which he had done to him, but for what he had done against Beatrice Corliss with that cursed place of evil of his in Summit City, which he had assured her was run by Steele himself. Soon or late he would get Joe Embry, and he dared think, with that hot rush of anger, that the time was now and in a way which Joe Embry did not look for. For again there came to him Bill Rice's words, his own thought of the afternoon: His luck, if there is such a thing as luck, was running high!
At Flash Truitt's word the dealer counted out to him from his shallow drawer fifty shining golden discs, each a twenty dollar piece. Steele, taking them silently, after having said curtly that he preferred the gold to the chips, was puzzled to know why he had not guessed long ago just the nature of the business which had kept Joe Embry here. The thing was so obvious, now that his suspicion had been awakened. All along he had merely accepted Embry's own explanation, that he was looking for timber investments, and had not troubled to note that not a single investment had been made.
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