Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-01
THEN he sWoRE OFF

4
well-known Baltimore sport" who. on
| the first day of the Benning meeting. trans
ferred his headquarters to Washington so
| that he could play the horses in comfort
without making the daily trip back and
forth, got of on the left foot" as the
| horsemen put 1t. from the outset.
His trouble consisted in the fact that he
picked too many winners-a very unusual
afiiction, by the way. But the Baltimorean
began to aggregate such bundle from the
| beginning that before two days had passed
| the beads of champagne were standing out
on his forehead like the morning dew on a
cabbage, and his nerves were unstrung
from pure excess of good luck and-and
| things
few evenings after the meeting began
the haxy Baltimorean took box at a local
variety theater all by himself.
His solitary grandeur and other internal
| influences palled upon him before the cur
tain had been up ten minutes on the OPEN
| Ing burlesque; SO he leaned his head
against one of the rear partitions of the
box and went to sleep.
A number of his dead-game racing ac-
| quaintances in orchestra seats spotted him
| In this cumbersome state, and they decided
| to toy with him some
| One of the horsemen on his way to the
theater had bought from street fakir a
tiny chameleon in pasteboard box. He
slipped into the weary Baltimoreans box
and fastened the little lizard to his Ascot
cravat with a small gold chain with pin
attachment that came with the reptile.
Then the racing men in the orchestra
chairs ceased to regard the performance,
but watched for the awakening of the man
in the box.
The beginning of his awakening was
when the lizard, becoming restless, started
to take advantage of its length of chain by
m NJ sacYnnr
collar. The mans hand sought the source
of the tickling sensation.
| He was still more than half asleep but
when his hand found the clammy little
body of the orawler he leaped to his feet
with suppressed whoop<and clawed wildly
at his neckwear
The lizard, alarmed at these manifesto
tions, crawled beneath the Ascot crayat
and the man from Baltimore, looking wild
ly around him, was plainly in a state Of
panic. while his acquaintance in the or
chestra chairs groaned with the misery of
trying to hold themselves in
The Baltimorean grabbed his hat and
oyercoat and sailed unsteadily in the direc-
ton of the next-door bar.
His friends in the orchestra, all looking
solemn and bored weren't far behind him
when he reached the bar. The man from
Baltimore gazed at his reflection in the bar
mirror. The chameleon had crawled out
from beneath the tie, and was blinking on
the surface thereof. The Baltimorean tried
half a dozen times to make UP his mind to
reach up hand to pick the thing off, but
every time he did SO the hand stopped halt
way. Great beads of perspira ton stood out
on his forehead.
Say. pal" he finally whispered hoarsely
| to the bartender, Il don't want to be shown
up, but dye see anything making tracks
around this necktie of mine?"
The barkeeper caught the winks of the
| chaps just lining up at the bar, and he
| gazed at the Baltimorean with blank
| countenance. Then he smiled.
bA ;AI IL
| you're due to cut it out. Rub the booze
| thing from now on. It's got you gon'
Better stack up against little hospital cot
for day or so, and you'll be all right"
But do you see anything?' persisted the
| man from Baltimore
| Now, you heard me, chum," said the
! barkeep Il don't want to make nobody
| feel bad, but you've got the tizzy- why
| thing for keeps, and it you for a rest and
| cut it out of the red stuff, or the green
zebras crossing purple bridges won't be
| one-two-twenty compared to your game.
| That's right"
The scared-looking Baltimorean turned
| just then and saw his acquaintance and
| they We're all looking serious and worried.
| Hello, fellers, said the Baltimorean
with an elaborate assumption of ease of
| mind Seeing the show?''
| No. one of them replied sepulchrally
| we've been following you about for the
| past two or three hours. old man, to keep
you out of trouble, but the jobs becoming
4
| no use in talking, mate, you're in bad
| way, and you'd better hand yourself over
to somebody that knows how to handle
| you. It's only twenty minutes ago that
| you tried to pound an inoffensive waiter to
| death IN restaurant down the street, and
| We had all We could do then to keep you
| from getting pinched.'
The eyes of the man from Baltimore were
| starting out of his head by this time But
| he managed to gasp:
S-s-s-ay. fellers. dye see anything
| crawling on me anywheres?'
| They all looked at him in a pitying kind
| OF way and then exchanged meaningfuI
| glances with each other.
Well. it's the poor chaps finish for this
whizz,' one of them said. Knew blamed
| well he'd get 'em if ne didn't STOP
| Two of them grabbed him and skated
| him into cab out in front of the variety
| theater, and when they got him inside the
caloosh one of them deftly removed the
| chameleon from his cravat They got him
| to the hot and steam rooms of a Turkish
| bath in Jig time, and the Baltimorean con-
| hdent that he had EN-" remained in the
| bath for twenty-four hours.
| When he came out, feverish and trem.
| bling, he took the wrought-iron pledge fol-
! five years.