Las Vegas optic., 1914-08-18

a-BOln U udho tho SdCfiHco thiS
time"
wherewith, he concealed a long
bread-knife In the inner pocket of his
overcoat, and. extinguishing the light,
announced that he was ready for &C |
ton.
Where now?" asked the giant, al
the three, followed, of course, by Mr. |
Jones, strobe out into the night.
There's Beer Peters," suggested
the new member. have you tried
there?"
mo-" responded Pedro, where IL
it?"
Follow me-" directed Lovejoy, "ftt
a likely place"
They set of at once. and trudged or
In silence until a low frame building |
abutting on the river and built par
TALLY on piles, was reached. Pushing
open the felt-covered doors, Lovejoy
paid for their entrance, and in an
other moment they were In the long
low-ceilinged room that formed the
main portion of the building. A devas
tating odor rushed out to meet them
like a blast from some evil furnace
The place was blue with tobacco
smoke, and at the far end, beyond Q
sea of little tables, girl was singing
to the accompaniment of cracked
piano.
At one end of this charming resort
which was typical enough Of its class,
stood the glittering bar with shining
array of glasses, mahogany and pol
ished metal, while opposite the en-
trance, in what appeared to be a
single-storied addition, was room
for dancing. Near the wide opening
into this section, sat Theodore Pell,
! the reporter, in company with three
ompanions-Elloch, the painter, and
two women They were all very hila'
rious, but catching sight of Pedro, Pell
excused himself, and began a some
what uncertain progress in the direc.
ton Of the newcomer. At the same
instant a man who seemed to be in
authority there accosted the three and
demanded to know if they wanted te
have Mr.. Jones perform.
"The house takes half of what you
get" he added.
do you often have dancing bears
here?" asked Pedro.
"Nope, never yet" said the man
"but it might go. Try it on after the
next dance, if you like"
Maybe I WILL" replied the other,
Then, as the proprietor moved away
he added, speaking to Lovejoy in a
low tone, Let us get right away. This
place is too open. Nothing serious
could happen here, and besides l am
almost certain that Hill has not been
here, from what that fellow said"
"All right" replied Lovejoy, 1--WE
might try the back room at Murphy g
or Spikey Joe's place"
Good" said Pedro promptly, hus.
Ting them out before Pell could reach
them. This escape did not, however,
| prevent the morning papers from bear
ing an account of how Signor e. c.
Pedro, the noted Spanish painter, went
Summing in disguise.
It was to the little unnamed wine
cellar known as "Spikey Joe's" that
the rescue party went next. Here the
very scum of the docks was gathered
and the women were of kind one
never sees by daylight. There were
thieves and pickpockets, dancing and
amusing themselves just as though
they were human; and sickly-faced
young men whose profession is un
namable; a terrible group of weary
young people, calloused, yet sensation
hungry. The three companions had
scarcely entered before it became evi
dent that here at least was place
in which Hill had been, for girl with
flaming cheeks and an unbelievable
coiffure turned and pointed to the bear
with a scream.
There's a Teddy" she called out
ga cute little Teddy-bear, just like the
other guy had.
Dancing bear must be Of
swell business!" she remarked
you've got the coin. amt you, sweet
hearth" and she stretched out hel
hand to touch his face.
Pedro had her glass refilled.
"Tell us about the other bear-fel
low," he suggested. I'D like to know
who my rival is"
"Sure, Cutie, I'll tell you." she
; smiled. But all she had to say was
that a nice, fresh feller presumably
Hill had been there three days ago
| had made his bear perform, got nc
, money for it, and had gone away
peaceably. When 1t was clear that
neither she nor anyone else there
, could give him any further informa
tion, Pedro arose and signaled the 9th
ers to do likewise.
} Now it happened that they soor
t came upon a portion of the one-sidet
: street where the walk had been tori
up, and perforce they had to cross the
T cobblestones beside the water. Here
+ were some covered piers, and beside
e one of them Pedro stopped the trio