Gambling, then, seemed the only excuse open to him for his presence
in Benton's sordid halls. And he had to bear as best he could the
baseness of his associates; of course, women had free run of all the
places in Benton.
At first Neale was flirted with and importuned. Then he was scorned.
Then he was let alone. Finally, as time went on, always courteous,
even considerate of the women who happened in his way, but blind and
cold to the meaning of their looks and words, he was at last
respected and admired.
There was always a game in the big gambling-place, and in fact the
greatest stakes were played for by gamblers like Hough, pitted
against each other. But most of the time was reserved for the
fleecing of the builders of the U. P. R., the wage-earners whose
gold was the universal lure and the magnet. Neale won money in those
games in which he played with Place Hough. His winnings he scattered
or lost in games where he was outpointed or cheated.
One day a number of Eastern capitalists visited Benton. The fame of
the town drew crowds of the curious and greedy. And many of these
transient visitors wanted to have their fling at the gambling-hells
and dancing-halls. There was a contagion in the wildness that
affected even the selfish. It would be something to remember and
boast of when Benton with its wild life should be a thing of the
past.
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