On some deals I made tremendous profits.

I even owned a saloon and gambling-hall, which paid me a huge rental and gave me my drinks free! The world looked "easy." Not content with Las Vegas, I followed the road to Albuquerque and Socorro, had some deals there and spent my evenings playing poker, faro and monte with the best and "toughest" of them.

Santa Fe, the capital, was then as much a "hell" as Las Vegas.
Let me try to describe one of these gambling resorts.

A long, low room, probably a saloon, with the pretentious bar in front; tables on either side of the room, and an eager group round each one, the game being roulette, faro, highball, poker, crapps or monte.

The dealers, or professional gamblers, are easily distinguished.