However, before I go it may be of some interest for me to say that I have played my last game." Somebody laughed sarcastically, a harsh, hateful laugh.

The speaker whirled, took one step forward; there was the flash of an extended arm, a dull crunch, and Red Slavin went crashing backward against the wall.
As he gazed up, dazed and bewildered, from the floor, the lights glimmered along a blue-steel barrel.
"Not a move, you red brute," and Hampton spurned him contemptuously with his heel.

"This is no variety show, and your laughter was in poor taste.

However, if you feel particularly hilarious to-night I 'll give you another chance.

I said this was my last game; I'll repeat it--_this was my last game_! Now, damn you! if you feel like it, laugh!" He swept the circle of excited faces, his eyes glowing like two diamonds, his thin lips compressed into a single straight line.
"Mr.Slavin appears to have lost his previous sense of humor," he remarked, calmly.