The crowd groaned. The big man turned on Sartan again, a wild and
furious look in his eye. "You jinxed me! Damn you, I oughta' bust you
one right in the snout!!"
"My humble apol-o-gies, sir," the bewildered Sartan began.
"I'll give you your humble apologies right back with my fist," roared
the gambler.
Toryl quickly made his way through the small crowd which by now was
itching to witness a fight. "Ex-cuse me, sir, but my friend did not
real-ize--"
"The hell he didn't!" The gambler fumed. "He was trying to jinx me, by
God! And I'm gonna teach him to keep his paws--"
"Okay, okay, you guys, break it up!!" It was Okie, massive and mean
looking, using his barrel belly to push his way through to the two
aliens and the unlucky gambler. "What's goin' on here, Smokey?" he
inquired of the gambler.
"Okie, I had a jackpot workin' when this dumb jerk here ups and grabs my
arm--"