Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-14
HE TURNED THE TABLES

looking chap walked in. thrust his hands
into his trousers pockets. gave husky
| preliminary cough and remarked to all
| hands:
am tonight-on the rocks and going to
pieces at every lurch. What need, and all
need. is the price of ride on the steam
RATHER over to the big town, where I can
make a dig. Don't all throw your wads
at me at once. L know you've all got 1t on
you. Who's going to make the first peel?
Evidently nobody was going to make the
first peel. The race followers looked at
! each other dryly, and then at the ceiling.
and then at their glasses. and then at the
ends Of their cigars-anywhere but in the
chill, gray eye of the dejected-looking man
who had the middle of the floor.
Nothing doing, huh?' said the latter,
looking around at them, searchtngly. Say,
you ducks are wise to what l said. amt
you? I'm not heaving up the long yell
for booze or for anything like that It's
the ride over to the big town that I'm
grating for. You all know me. Begin
digging"
The well-dressed crowd of men he adj
dressed, however, continued to look away
from him. They stretched their arms and
most of them seemed immersed in thought.
A couple of the groups started somewhat
embarrassed conversations among them
selves. but none of them reached into his
clothing for money wherewith to uplift
the spirit of the dejected-looking man.
I'm not here to get real chesty or to rig
myself out in the Sandow vest went on
| the latter, shifting to the other foot and
expectorating tentatively. But there's not
a geezer in this layout that doesn't owe
me dough l challenge any hot mark in
| this gang to get up in his seat and say to
my map that haven't produced the goods
for him, at one time or another, when he's
been up against the real thing like 1 am
| now-that / haven't passed a mitt lined
with the green papers to him when he's
needed the coin. There's one for you all to
going n
Apparently nobody was going to stand up
| first. 1t really looked. from the somewhat
drawn expressions on the faces Of the men
| he was addressing, that the seedy-looking
chap was telling the truth.
And there's nary a gezabo in the lot"
continued the man who had the floor. that
didn't used to think | real nice good
thing when 1 was pulling it down in Jumps
at the big tracks, and opening the fizzy
stun by the basket and wearing shirts at
! 81 a throw. There's not a piker in the
bunch that didn't used to tell me how wise
1 was and how much 1 knew about the
| ponies. and give me the gladstone back-pat,
and the twinkling lamps-when l was up.
Amt that right?''
II it wasn't right, none of the men at
the table seemed willing to deny its accu-
| racy. They all sat right still ard held on
| TO themselves, although 1t was quite plain
to be seen that most of them were ner-
Vous.
And here l come along, after having
been batted off the earth at this meeting
right on top of years hard luck-and
my roll gone and everything | own in the
way of gig-lamps in hock-here 1 come
along and inquire for the price Of ride
over to the town where I've got a chance
| to get together again and I'm passed up
Well, 1t surely did seem that way. No
body spoke. A couple Of the men at the
| tables made the preliminary moves toward
| rising and making their departure. but the
seedy-looking chap with the shrewd gray
eye halted them with a gesture.
Just hang on minute, YOU duckS-yO1f
amt in any hurry-the first race won't be
on for twenty hours yet said he, putting
himself In the doorway leading into the
back room where this little incident hap
pened. Il want to give you all-the whole
gang-all the chance that's coming to you"
Here the dejected-looking man cleared
his throat and made a right-arm gesture
that had some eloquence in it, as he went
on:
There used to be a time in this game
when the men who followed it had some
thing in the left side of their chests besides
paving bocks-when they went a route, and
gave each other the lift at the right time,
and were leery about going back on pal.
can remember the time when even piker
in this game never went back on a pal.
Hoss racing Is a hard game in the long
run, and it throws every mug that fools
with 1t sooner or later-but the old-tme
gang used to understand this, and when
one of the bunch fell down they'd pick
him up, and dust him Off and give him the
pleasant face, and make him feel like as If
the whole earth wasn't agin him. even if
he was idiotic enough to've gone broke as
a hoss-racing gambler. And every time
man gave another man a little push up the
line he knew that it 'ud all come back to
him, one way or another. some dny-and
he didn't lose any rest il it never came
back, at that Well, just get next to the
difference nowi"
Yes. it was easy to observe that most of
the men sitting around the tables were
distinctly at loss just what to do with
themselves by this time.
Say, the trouble with you people Is that
you're sanded deck and a gang of Fill
pinos on the lope, and you won't do!' said
the seedy-looking man. appearing to be a
little less detected, and again thrusting his
hands into his trousers pockets.
A number of the men at the tables reach
ed for their money pockets just then. and
one Of them, heavy-jawed chap with
good many diamonds on his person, spoke
"oh, we'll Jim." said he In sort of
whining tone, you needn't take it to heart
so. I'll pass you the price of a ride back
to the big town, If you're SO much on the
porcine all that; but
"Oh. no, you won't, you big lobster"
coolly interrupted the man with the shrewd
gray eye. looking not at all detected now,
and throwing out his chest in manner
that made him appear quite a different man
than he had been before. Not on your fat
jowls, will you, Not that it isn't coming
to me from you, and twenty times that
much, that 1 never looked you in the eye
for, and never expected to ask You for, al
though you've had 1t to pass back to me
for a long time now, when I've been up
against sinkerS and coffee for mine. No,
you won't pass me the price of ride back
In the steam RATHER, nor will any of the
rest of these crustaceans around here. 1
just thought I'd drop in here to try you all
out and find out If man of you had the
real stuff in him. Well. I've found out,
see, and from this time on you're all
scratched, as far as I'm concerned
Then the seedy-looking man walked rap
idly over to vacant table, pulled his hands
out of his trousers pockets and slapped
two huge rolls of bills on the polished sur
face. They weren't ones or twos, or fives.
They We're twenties and tfties. and hun
dreds. Then he reached into his vest pock-
cts and pulled out two more big rolls of
the same denominations which he stacked
on top of the other wads. Then he reached
into his breast pocket. pulled out a big
black wallet, opened it and pulled out a
whole handful of hundreds. which he pasted
on top of the other piles. There must have
been several thousands of dollars in that
table-load of bills.
Its been coming my way for four days."
calmly said the seedy-looking man, land
tonight I'm off for the big town on the
baSt nod hat ha bod for