meaning - "Hearts of game" — what game?


What could be meant by game in the following?



"He could tell of a wicked widow ... who smiled so sweetly upon the smugglers when they sold her silks and laces, cheap as tape and gingham. She called them gallant fellows, hearts of game, and bade them bring her more."



From Herman Melville's White Jacket CHAPTER LXXV (1850)
also previous Source: Herman Melville - Mardi, and A Voyage Thither (1849)




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