Despite his perplexity and a sense of new dangers ahead, the Gambler felt youthful, vibrant and in complete harmony with the great waters beneath the keel and the endless skies above, the light on the water and the wild, forceful shaking of the walking beams driving the sternwheel. He chortled, sipped his brandy, and began to sing out loud:

Come on Miss Nancy put your best dress on Come on Miss Nancy 'fore that steamboat's gone. The banjos are strumming the same old tune Up on the deck there's a place to spoon Settle down close 'neath the silvery moon!

He reached in his pocket and rattled the gold he found there, smiling cheerily at the broad world.