Under His Thumb — page 118: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“UNDER HIS THUMB. 109 ‘*T will tell you, mister, exactly how it happened. Just after dark to-night, as I was standing at a street corner, aman comes along, and says to me: ‘Do you know aman named Carl Brandon?’ and I says to him, ‘Yes;’ and then he says, ‘The cops are after him red-hot, and I want you to help him to keep clear of em.’ Then I says, ‘What can I do?’ and then he says, ‘You’re sharp as a trap, Spider, and I know you can fool the cops somehow,’ and I says, ‘I’ll try it.” Then the feller give me five dol- lars, and then skips. That’s the whole story, mis- ter.’’ “Did you know the man who asked you to do this?’’ ‘‘Never saw him before.’’ ‘*How did he appear?’’ “Old, with bushy gray whiskers and glasses.” ‘*Disguised, of course.’’ “Just what 1 thought, mister.’ : ‘And so you wrote that ane and Eopoed it, to throw me off the track?”’ “That’s it.’’ The dwarf grinned, and added: ‘“And it worked, too. You followed me, and let the other chap go.”’ “Oh, you are a very shrewd fellow, only you got caught, and if I should put the darbies on you you would laugh out of the other corner of your mouth.”’ “You won’t do that, will you?’’ “No. Now show me down to the door, and I will bid you good-night. Stay! have you the money the man paid you?’’ “Yes.” ‘“Let me see it.”’ Spider produced a crisp five-dollar bank note. “ECOMIGDOOKS:. co