"And that's all there is to it," she finished plaintively. "After all our
trouble and everything, we find ourselves just where we were before."
The sergeant looked very grave.
"The man was a cad," he said, "to knock down an old woman that way and
then not stop to see how badly she was hurt. I wish you could have won out
to-day. Could you give a good description of him?"
"Yes, I can," cried both Amy and Grace in the same breath, and thereupon
proceeded to do it without delay. At the description the sergeant's
interest grew and his face flushed with excitement.
When they had finished, Betty, who had been watching his face closely,
unable to restrain her curiosity longer, burst forth an eager question.
"Have you seen the man, Sergeant?"
"I think I have--often," he replied slowly, adding as they turned
incredulous eyes upon him. "If I'm not mistaken, this criminal of yours is
one of the most famous card sharpers of the day."
CHAPTER XXII
STARTLING DEVELOPMENTS
For a moment the girls stared. Then Sergeant Mullins was besieged with a
veritable flood of questions.
"He hangs out mostly at Thomasville, a town about fifteen miles from
here," the sergeant explained, when at last the girls had realized that if
they ever hoped to learn anything at all they must give the man a chance
to speak. "And he makes most of his money by skinning the rookies."
"You mean," cried Betty, translating camp slang into intelligible English,
"that he gets the newly enlisted men to play with him before they have a
chance to learn his reputation, and of course gets all their money,
because his game is crooked?"
"Exactly," agreed Sergeant Mullins, his grave face clouding angrily.
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