Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-22
was out pu1lin' somethin' that would
give her a Jolt If she knew"
He mods and let's out another groan.
+ ''What ?'-says l.. - -

was out pullin' somethin' that would
give her a jolt IL she knew"
He mods and let's out another groan.
IL don't want to TELL" says he.
"Ah, forget Alice for a minute"
says I, land remember that your own
fool neck is in danger. Besides. you
amt confessin' to her. I'm only
askin' you to tell me-"
"Mum-must II" says he.
of high voltage" says I. Come.
Well" says Albert, tt was play
ing the piano."
"Wh-a-at?" gasps. Say: do you
think this is any time to get comic?
Playin' the piano where?" -.
IN Noonan's. on 9Th avenue"
says he.
En-. says I. Not in the cave"
what they call the back BASEMENT"
l must have been gawpin at him
by then But isn't Noonan's cave
the hang-out of the Spiders. the
toughest gang in the Helrs Kitchen
"It's the Spiders Club I play for"
says Albert, every Thursday night.
months"
You have?" says T. We'll. of all
the places for you to be in. How did
like that?"
1t was simple enough. accordin' to
Albert. A friend of his who was a
| musician had told him, as a joke on
himself. how he'd answered a want
ad. for a pianist and discovered that
the number was this tough joint of
the Spiders. Course, he'd turned it
down.
so I went around" says Albert,
| land took it."
You did," says l. Why"
Because" says he. 81 wanted to
play jazz. Tits great fun, really.
There were three Of us. violinist
! and the fellow who played the saxo-
phone. We got along fine-that is,
| when the violinist wasn't sober. He
| had no touch then. and he was apt
| to be ugly. But he was seldom real
sober. And the Austrian who played
the saxophone used some kind of
! dope We gave them good music,
though. Lots of ginger to it. You
can't Imagine. unless you've played
Jazz stuff. how it gets in your blood.
And. then. the Spiders are such a
| jolly crowd"
Il should say they were says 1.
ANY one of 'em would stick a man
up for a dollar and grin while he was
doing it. Don't you know that?'
They were rather rough looking"
1
had fearful fights among themselves.
With knives. you know. But I simply
didn't look and kept on playing. They
| were nice enough to me, though. Es-
pecially some of the young ladies.
| Very affectionate at times. l suppose
they were just teasing me-. didn't
mind. IL rather liked one or two
Of them. There was one big blond
a Kitty something. or other. 1t was
Kitty who got me to smoke cigar
that night. Gracious, but it made me
ill. And the Spiders thought it a
great joke. You should have heard
them laugh when / turned so pale
and had to quit playing"
See here, Albert" says l. did
this cigar incident happen the night
before you were arrested"
why, yes" says he.
"And about how many Spiders and
their lady friends were there in the
/ about one hundred, should say"
says Albert.
Then, you poor prune," says I,
don't you see that makes your alibi
just about 100 per cent perfect? Hey,
| you Sleuth in the next coop there! Did
you get all of that? Hickson can
bring a whole roomful of witnesses
| to show where he was durin' his hid
! den hours"
! IF he cam" says the fiattie. step
! to punch in on another line
You bet he will" says 1. for I'm
going over to 9Th avenue now and
round up a bunch of Spiders. I'm go
| ing to get Hickson out Of this be-
| fore night or show up somebody in
| "oh, can you get me out. Pro-