He drank a glass of beer then, made himself another cigarette and settled down to business, feeling that he had but just begun.

After the fifth hand he looked up and caught again the eye of Bert Rogers.

Bert pulled his eyebrows together in a warning look, and Irish thought better of staying that hand.

He did not look at Bert after that, but he did watch the other players more closely.
After awhile Bert wandered away, his interest dulling when he saw that Irish was holding his own and a little better.

Irish played on, conservative to such a degree that in two hours he had not won more than fifteen dollars.