Under His Thumb — page 196: what you’re looking at

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

UNDER HIs THUMB. “187 “You ’tend the tables inside?’ Steve carelessly asked, confronting the youth. “When anybody’s playin’. Business’s quiet to- day, though,’’ the latter replied. He was smoking a very strong pipe, with a non- chalance that indicated that he had graduated from mild cigars a long while ago. “That feller that just went in—does he play much; ae ; ‘“Never saw him but once or twice. No, he don’t ay.’ : ““What’s he doing?’’ ‘Drinking whisky, I guess. That’s what I heard him eall for.”’ “Pay for 1b?’ “He'll have to, or get bounced.’’ ‘‘“Guess he’ll be bounced, then. Couldn’t pay toll on the Bridge little while ago.’’ ‘You know him ??’’ “A little. ’’ ‘Tough, isn’t he?’ — “Oh, I ain’t going to look out for you fellers if you can’t look out for yourselves. Only I didn’t s’pose you was quite so fresh.’’ With this ambiguous observation Steve made as though he would walk off, but the pool-tender’s cu- riosity was excited, and he detained the boy with a show of eagerness. “What do you know about that chap?’’ he eh manded. ‘“Nothin’ much.’’ ‘See here, if he is playin’ any trick on us, and you know it, just blow on the racket, or we’ll make it go hard with you.’ “Don’t try to be too smart, now, ’cause I don’t scare at a little smoke. And ’nother thing: you may take yer hand ott 0? me, or you'll catch somethin’ you won't like.’ The young typo said this with such a cool, though determined air, that the other changed his tactics very abruptly. ‘See here, just tell us all about it, and we’ll do what’s right by you,’’ he said, persuasively. EOomicbooks (E (0) mn