When I got back to the dome, I tried to buy the lowland from him. He
laughed and named a price that was beyond even my means. It was not
that he was particularly fond of the place; he just didn't care to sell.
I studied my man for the weakness that would give me what I wanted.
He was a big man, a boisterous man who loved action and talk. He was
younger than I, and handsome, with the rich good looks inherited from
his Black Irish ancestors.
One thing I noted, and filed in my mind in case it should prove
valuable. He liked Dori. He was a bachelor, as were most of his guests,
for women were scarce on Mars then. He knew she was my wife, but he
couldn't keep his eyes from her. I think perhaps it was the appeal to
such a man as Odaan of that childish wistfulness and helplessness in
her which I have described to you.
What gave me my lead was seeing him play roulette that evening. The
sparkle of the born gambler shone in his eyes, and he pushed the stakes
up and up, much too high for a sociable game. At that moment, I decided
to break my resolution not to gamble on Mars.
* * * * *
It was not hard to talk Odaan and several other men into a game the
next night. I wanted dice, but Odaan preferred cards. The others didn't
seem to care. At last, Odaan turned to Dori, who was standing at my
side.
"I'll leave the decision to Mrs. Britt," he said, smiling up at her.
"Which shall it be, Mrs. Britt--dice or cards?"
My heart leaped, for Dori knew why I preferred dice.
"Cards," she said in a cold voice, and walked away.
Well, if Dori were going to take that attitude, cards would be better
for me anyhow. She might turn the dice against me. I didn't fear my
ability at cards.
I don't use a marked deck in cheating at cards. I use the natural
ability of my hands. My cheating has not been detected yet, that I know
about.
I have to qualify that statement, because I never have been sure
whether Odaan knew I was cheating on my deals. Certainly, he was very
cautious on hands which I dealt, betting low and going out even on
fairly good hands. On the other hand, I never did see him cheating, but
he bet with confidence on the hands he dealt.
Odaan was inclined to go for higher and higher stakes anyhow, and I was
interested in pushing the stakes higher. Before long, everyone else had
been forced from the game. It was the two of us against each other.
I was sure Odaan was not cheating and, since I couldn't get the sort of
bets I wanted from him on the hands I dealt, I bet recklessly on those
he dealt. For a while the luck swung back and forth between us evenly.
Then he hit a winning streak.
Neither of us was drinking. We were cold sober, and we were betting
thousands on the turn of a card. Hours passed, and I could no longer
cover my bets with liquid assets. But my luck had to change. I began
betting my property--my business property, my stocks and investments,
at last my home in Syrtis Major.
It was nearly dawn when I realized I had nothing more to bet.
Everything I had built up on Earth and brought to Mars with me,
everything I had added to it on Mars, belonged to Odaan now. I was a
pauper.
I pushed the cards aside and started to get up from the table, soaked
with perspiration, when I saw Dori standing in the door. She was
looking at me across the heads of the intent spectators, on her face
one of the most wistful expressions I have ever seen.
There was my ticket back to wealth.
It could be a long, slow pull; I could wind up leaving Mars as I had
left Earth. Or I could use that ticket to win it all back now. It was
a desperate chance, a chance that depended on the vagaries of Dori's
emotions. It was my only chance.
"Odaan," I said calmly, "you have no wife, and I see you like mine.
I'll make a last bet with you. My wife against all you own--what you've
won from me and your own possessions as well."
Odaan stared at me a long moment, then he turned slowly and saw Dori
standing there. In that instant, I was convinced he had not been
cheating.
"All right," he said, and he sounded as though he were strangling.
"Deal the cards."
He drew his heat-gun and laid it on the table before him, as if warning
me. Maybe he didn't know, but he suspected. I could not take a chance
on cheating now; and, the way the cards had been running, I couldn't
take a chance on them without cheating.
"Not cards," I said. "I'll roll the dice with you, Odaan."
He hesitated, then said:
"All right. I'll go and get the dice."
He left the room and brought them in: a pair of white dice with black
spots, still sealed in their plastic box bearing the stamp of Luna-Mars
Exports. That was an unshakable guarantee that they were honest dice.