Evening star., 1921-05-01


restaurant hard by where
6th avenues l. structure.
like an overgrown straddlebug. wades
through the restless currents of
Broadway at a sharpened angle. The
dish upon which we principally dined
was called on the menu chicken la
Marengo. We knew why. Marengo.
by all accounts. was a mighty tough
battle, and this particular chicken.
we judged. had never had ony refin-
ing influences in it's ILL. Jent life.
From it's present defiant attitude in
q cooked form we figured it had
pipped the shell with burglars
Jimmy and joined the Dominecker
Kids gang before it shed its pin
feathers. There were two of US en-
gagged in the fruitless attack upon
its sinewy tissues-the present writer
and his old un-law-abiding friend
Scandalous Doolan.
For a period of minutes Scandalous
wrestled with the thews Of one of the
embattled fowls knee-joints. After
q struggle, in which the honors stood
practically even, he laid down his
knife and fiirted a thumb toward a
bottle Of peppery sauce which stood
on my side Of the table.
Hey. bo." he requested. pass the
liniment. will you? This sea sull's
got the rheumatism"
The purport of the remark. taken in
connection with the gesture which
accompanied it. was plain enough to
my understanding; but for the nonce
could not classify the idiom in
which Scandalous couched this re-
quest. It could not be underworld
5argon; it was too direct and at the
same time too picturesque. Moreover
the Underworld, as a rule. concerns
itself only with altering such words
and such expressions as strictly fig
ure In the business affairs of its va
riouS crafts and pursuits. Nor to me
did II sound like the language Of the
oiruus lot. for in such case it prob
ably would have been more complex.
30 By process Of elimination 1 decided
It vas Of the slang code of the bur-
lesque and vaudeville stage. with
which. a. with the other two. Scan
dalous had 4 thorough acquaintance.
felt sure. then, that something had
set his mind to working backward
one or another Of his earlier expert
Sncae in the act-producing line of en-
dsavor. and that. with proper pump
ing, a story might be forthcoming.
AZ it turned out. I was right.
Whore did you get that one. Scandal
ous!' asked craftily. You own COIN
age. or did you borrow it from some
LIE only g1inned cryptically. After
bit ho hailed the attendant waiter.
who because he plainly suffered from
fallen arches had already been re-
christened by Scandalous as Battling
Insteps.
Say. Battling" he said. "take away
pion Of the ages. Tidy him up a little
and serve him to the next guy that
feels like he needs exercise more'n he
does nourishment The gravy may be
unused MP trifie. but the old ring gen.
eral amt lost an ounce. fought him
three rounds and didn't put a bruise on
him.
Couldn't bring you somethin' else?''
said the waiter. "the wiener schnitzel
with noodles is very
Nix" said Scandalous; ''if the casso-
wary licked us. what chance would we
stand against bison? That'll be all for
the olio: I'll go right into the after show
now. Slip me a dipper OF straight
chicory and one of those Flor de Boiled
Dinners and then you can break the bad
news TO my pal here" BY this ! knew
he meant that he craved a cup Of black
coffee and one of the domestic cigars
to which he was addicted. and that l
could pay the check.
He turned to me:
How're you goin' to finish your
turnr he asked They've got mince