The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-05-18
Copyright, 1900. by Robert Howard


around that Magyar-Milesian violin viz
+ stuosc. and the managerial ring through
4 his nose, and started In to hike him &c
Il the heights of fame, not to mention the
sasphodel meadows where the kopecks
& grow remarked Ex-Tank No. IA. Of the
4 AClub of Former Alcoholic Degcnerates.
IS 81 had already passed the examination
and registered my name on the eug1bie
tist Of the Job Of third assistant dog
catcher Of San Francisco, nor Is that
3ny gnome narrative nor pixie pipe
IA france San Francisco had been play
Eng bean-bag with me for some several
lunar months San Francisco had been
giving me mine with a gnarled meat-axe
L In one r1itt and a needle-ended boat-hooH
IN the other. There may be on the
francisco in which to stand lot a qulch
: bump and 1 sudden ooze-out OF the dough
but If there are the postal guide don
y notice them When you're broke IN
San Francisco. you might just as vel!
4 Keep on going West, using chr nat, II you
aeaave one left for a rudder and your
pedals for turbines. and atter. YOU ,,.e
sewum a few miles that way You don
ixcare much, so that when, lew Gays
1afer q Greek fisherman in felucca
q pulls you out of the neaving Pacific
somewhere around Lime Point or Al
jcatraz Island or the Presido, and draEs
3sf9syn,. into his boat for the purpose OF
fSsscertainng whether you had the price
sfson you when you made the jump, you
4 7wear a real careless look of ennul and
Adampness. The difference between be
Stng broke and dead in San francisco Is
ffSso teeny-weeny that you can balance 1t
4 ,Dn the business end of a. slate pencil
4 kyif bout any danger of dropping it. There
ARE only two classes in San Francisco
IS Ahoses that have got so much or N1he
# yellow in their kimons that they looh
Haundiced, and the much larger those lha'
y are snailing along on the lard caravan
4. lcr sitting on the lu.npy side Of the Stag
/. Slump-which was me, our solitary horse
man hero of this dirGe, at the tune
whereof mention. Never mind why. IL
t1lfices to say that when blew into
San Francisco I had SO many OF ,he
snale rnazarine carbons on me that the
fown had to take to wearing smoked
glasses when the tip got out that was
s,tweari1lg 'enl, but that at the time When
eiis spiel opens I was stalking mSseiL
ito dream-feeds by standing over the
fodoriferous pavement graunEs IN 1ronl
Of restaurants where they served twelve
course table dhote dinners or fifteen
cents.
.All this came about so suddenly that
1 1t didn't seem any time at all before
had made the shift from my three-room
/ suite, with bawth. at the Palace Hotci
ssso the sxs bunk-space in the lott OF
J. haission-Stret doss-plant. The shelter
i of these four walls and OF the ieahy
: Elass skylight, the crannies thereon stun-
Z ed with passe pantaloons lett behlnu ny
Z a,reYious dodgers. set me back Just eisHe
F bits or one round iron thing the calen-
3 tdar week payable in advance. and no
rebate. Each room-rent day I'd corral
the necessary piece-of-eight whereWlth
to atone for my lodging by s11eaklns 70
a Sign Of the Three Spheres with a vest
. ar some such piece of bijouterie out OF
nv one remaining Gladstone. One time
the 1f1an voluntarily gave me S1ao on
vest. which oyercame me so much that
z i had to sit right, down on the floor ana
6Sb
4 ..F'rom this 1oft-space I would sally
forth each morning with the idea OF con-
!. svincinr some passenger agent that it
wo,,l.l he a great adj for his road II he
weres to shin me over the Sierras and
L straight along to the Atlantic seaboard
an one of his five-day limited trains. or
of endeavoring to induce the traffic man
nger of the San-1Trancisco-to-Ne New ork-
by-sea steamship line to ship me as
Eupercargo, or a third mates mascot, or
a beaying pin. or mizzen-rail lantern,
3 ar any old thing. I mention this for the
{ nurpose of showing that was real anx-
fous to depart from San Francisco, and
4 THAT Ia have willingly left San Francisco
an the capa city of sack of cement on 4
way freight if could only we got reg
tastered right on the bill of lading SOS to
& be checked off properly by the shipping
Z clerk The passenger agents and the
traffic managers alike passed me the
xarthest North glare when tried to get
them to see what a hit they'd make by
e1ot-footing me off of the golden sands
s. t,f the Pacific, and then it was me for
a. stink back to my SKIS cavern in the
yoft to give myself the mystical sign of
a grief in the hand class. 1t was at this
stage of It that corralled my Czcf-Hi-
bernian catgut caresser.
rs az was sitting in the room one night,
cutting some new holes in my belt-strap
= 10 that it would fit my dwindled, waist
d hand when. through the thin board par
a,tit;on of the high cave right next to
tAnine there came floating along some
s violin music that got me up around the
.Euiper in something less than two min
L ates and caused me to wonder, with a
vague curiosity, why, after all, hadn't
7,een good for quite long time previous
lily. That is to say. this was music right,
and with all the plus-marks after the
\ siE.t that you could lot down with
iscarpenter's pencil. The individual who
! >was doing that music had the merchan-
disc in both fins. I knew that as soon as
si'd heard three bow-strokes He made
/ sf1is instrument whfmper like stricken
: woman that had lost ailing baby and
then again he made it shout melodies of
/. 1evilish triumph that gave my blood the
i ting!e-freeze and started my respiration
ron sprint for the tape that almost made
! me fall on the floor.
How said to myself, has Ysaye
!; managed to get on the shoat-train like
This. so tina: he has to bunk of in a
cloud-boudoir at one silver ace the throw
per week?
For. from the first minute of the play
ing. had 1t dope odut that the player
couldn't be anybody else but Ysaye, the
Belgian tiddle-hugger with the mattress
mop and the Sorcerer's digits.
when / couldn't stand it any longer
without finding out who this remarkable
mage of the horse-hair wand was. ] got
IN. went next door. and raped on his
gate here wasn't any Come in. and the
s music went right on So pushed the
door open and went in anyhow. with
out waiting for any AT home. paste
Is board.
..Ile was tilted back in his ole chair
BY the window. just making the Gid thing
snrggled up under his neck mind him.
y He only handed me dreamy grin when
butted in. and went right on COMPEL
& ing the hollow wooden thing to do the
n .SaS 10 Il Ia nd fa1 a