The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-11-04
4 REAL BA-AD NAN.
How He Boosted of the Evil He Had
Done.
washington Starr

washington Starr
A quiet young man. with a peachy,
| cherubie countenance, was talking
! about himself in an open suburban car
| the other evening. He was telling his
/ pal and seatmate-who was Of the same
! general type-what an "awfully dis
| sipated devif' he was. The pair had
| sats about amidships OF the open car.
/ which was filled for folks out for the
! evening air.
This wicked, vice-stained poung per-
/ son-he was all OF 20 years of age
with the cherUbic frOntispiece, was "A
! sad dog and a rake and a roue, and
| other terrible things too numerous to
mention, to hear him tell 1t. And he
! told IL in tone that all the rest of
/ the people in the car couldn't help but
| hear, Horseracing? Well what he
/ didn't know about the ponies was very
! few indeed.
| He had everybody on earth just about
| sewed in a gunnysack when it came
/ 10 getting the kee-rect information
! about the gee-gees. Hitting the pipe?
| Oh, years ago. Could handle a yen
| hok and cook dope pills better'n any
| Chink that ever lived in an under
| ground San Francisco. The old redeye?
/ Aw, he was on the water wagon for o
| spell. Had been up against the old stun
! for four years steady-hadn't been to
| bed sober single night in all that
time. honest Injun, he hadn't-and he'd
| found that there was nothing in if.
Was going 10 keen a clutch on the
sprinkling cart for few months, any
! how, just TO see how it felt to be good.
Poker? The youth with the cherubic
countenance could only smile indul-
gently when il came TO talking about
| poker. If he had a dollar for every
, time he'd bluffed professional short
| card players out of their eye-teeth,
with nothing but eight-high in his mitt
well. he'd be riding on a white steam
yacht OF his own all right, and that
, was no frivolous fantasy.
Faro bank? Huh, All the dealers
around these parts just curled up like
! caterpiliars before a CRATE IRE when
they saw him coming. and just refused
! to dish the cards out of the box for
him. Why? Oh, well. he'd put 'em out
| of business so often that they were
| afraid of his play, that's all.
And the ladies'? Oh he guessed he
! could hold his Own-he guessed he
| could go some when it came to the la
1 dies. Didn't claim to be the goss of
| all the killers, but he didn't think he
] was altogether out of the picture, Fer
die. and Ferdie could gamble on that.
/ There might be few of 'em who could
| sidestep his winning ways by making
an early start, but if there were he
| hadn't met up with 'em, that's all.
/ All in all. il appeared from this
! cherubic youths conversation that he
was real horrid thing and speeder
| from the speedway and no mistake.
Seated beside and around TIE dissi-
! pated devil with the pink cheeks were
| half a dozen young married couples,
all neiShbors and friends, who We're
| open car riding in a party just for
/ the fun of the thing. They listened
Fthey couldn't help themselves) shud-
| derin8iy to the sherub checked youths
! account of his Maynard career for a
long time. and then they began to look
! at each other and grin.
| Then the pauses in the swift youths
conversation We're filed I'm with such
| remarks as these from the surrounding
! seats:
Isn't he just the horridest thing?"
why, the wicked, crime-steeped,
hoary-headed sinner"
Would you believe that such frigl.,-
| full evil existed in the world?"
And he so young"
Nov, isn't he just the ba-a-deSur"
Isn't this sporting life terrifc?"
Who'd q thunk there were such
blase high-rollers in Washington in
| the summer time?"
| What a mad, merry. riotous life he
must lead"
"Oh, the fascinating reprobate,"
| But maybe he was always good to
! father"
Does his conscience ever ache him,
/ WONDER"
Why, the feverish, Passionate gam
bler!"
How does he stand such a horrible
| oace?"
| All OF these and many others.
| The young married folks in the sur
| rounding seats never glanced at the
| sin-steeped young man at an. They
J appeared TO be talking about some mu-
! tual acquaintance when he turned
/ about and glared at them. His fe-
| rocity of expression didn't appear to
J shriyel any Of the folks. however, and
so he gave q vicious punch at the but
| ton beside him. The car came to a
| stop at a crossroads out in the woods
| "A lot o. pikers," hoarsely mumbled
| the vice-stained thing, as he stepped
| off the car with his seatmate, and the
| tunultuous boot that the young mar
| ried folks sent after him must have
| awakened the sleeping birds in the
| forest.
| Remark-The real dissipated devil
never says q word.