ripe wine

The mules […] were alternately aswim and walking, the length of our team constituting our greatest safety; for when the wheel mules would be out of their depth, the lead and middle ones might not be over knee-deep, and vice versâ,

Chips in Las Vegas are as negotiable as green money. You can take them into any club and cash them in for money, for $5 or $10 or whatever it is. So all you've got to do is put a chip in the end of your fingers, turn your hand down like you're trying to touch your wrist, and you can comshaw — or steal — comshaw is a much better word — a $25 chip from a table.

an ambitious project