Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 102: what you’re looking at

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

100 He had begun a little uncertainly, but grew intense and finished with a snarl. “But didn’t he get a pretty stiff sentence? He has a long time ahead in prison.” “Buey!” said Silkeen with almost obscene contempt. ‘“Fr’m one to twenty years. He’s done two mont’s. He'll be out in two more. How ’n —— dey ever cinched him I don’t know. But he knows too much t’ stay in stir. He took it wit’out a fight. Dat means he’s comin’ out. ’N stan’ fr’m under.”’ Middleton reached across to the table and idly fingered the ring, saying— “For such a dangerous personage, he seems to have let you alone.” “Yeah. He’s let me ‘lone f’r de same reason de cops has. I ain’t put no notices in de papers askin’ ’em to call.” Middleton appeared wholly unenlightened but not greatly interested, just mildly so. “T don’t understand yet why a person of Cabron’s influence—with plenty of money, too, hasn’t he?—would let himself be railroaded to the penitentiary. How do you guess at that, Harry?”’ Harry leaned brokenly against a corner of the table. He sagged at every joint of his thin body, and with an air curiously humble in one so notoriously dangerous said: “T’ll say somebody was after him dat would ’a’ busted dis ol’ town wide open if he’d showed fight. Cabron had ’o take it layin’ down to safe all his frien’s. An’ he ’s got some frien’s, Misser Mid’ton, dat would ‘a’ croaked him to keep ’emselves fr’m gettin’ showed up. , “The big t’ing in dis ol’ burg is, ‘keep it dark.’ Dat’s de slogan Tammany likes bes’. -An’ Cabron, he took his jolt f’r de good o’ his own health.”’ “And you think he would be really dan- gerous if he turned lose some of his Italian gangsters on—say—me?”’ Silkeen Harry slouched a step closer and dropped a hand with palm outspread, saying: “Dang’rous? Lis’en. I don’t t’row de bull, see? An’ I’m tellin’ youse straight. I don’t want no dago’s game. I’m a white man, an’ dem dagoes uses steel, an’ me—I hates de sight of a chive. If youse don’t watch ’em dey’ll stick it in you a foot deep while you’s poundin’ your ear. Youse wake up on a marble slab down to de dead- house. I’m tellin’ youse.”’ “T see. I see. Thank you, Harry.” Adventure “In dis game,” he added a little patheti- cally, “somebody’s al’us watchin’ t’ bump youse off.” Middleton tossed a match toward a tray and looked at the tip of his cigaret. “Very expressive, that word. Bump you off. You just shove the unlucky devil right out into the bottomless darkness that’s be- fore all of our feet.’’ “E-yes'r,” Silkeen answered fumblingly. Middleton watched the curling smoke for a moment, then quietly, his eyes on Silkeen: “It’s a game as you say. A bad game. ‘No matter how you play it—some day, a stumble—and the bump—for each of us. The bottomless darkness, just as we walked along a cliff. Oh well, I hope those poor devils that had the sidewalk for a death- bed don’t greatly mind.” Silkkeen Harry was attentively puzzled, and did not answer. His dark eyes fur- tively watched. He was not quite sure whether he ought to say something; but. Middleton sat silent, unexpectantly look- ing at nothing. WHEN Middleton returned to the Hbrary Leela was alone, before the fire, composedly leafing a magazine. The dog lay humbly at her small feet, head between his paws, and looked up sadly. “Well, old son,’ said Middleton lan- guidly, snapping his fingers at the dog, which lifted its head, moved its tail, but did not get up. ‘“‘Where is Billy?” he asked of her, but turning away casually toward a newspaper that lay on the table. Leela flipped the magazine, shutting it up, looked at him keenly from under low- ered lashes; then, affecting a yawn, replied with a bored air— . “T told him to get out.” Middleton looked over his shoulder at her, his eyebrows slightly lifted, coolly sur- prized. “Yes,” she added, deftly opening a cigaret-case and removing a cigaret with one hand. ‘And I told him—” pause while she lighted the cigaret— “‘to stay out—” pause while she puffed and inhaled deeply— ‘no matter how loudly you shouted—” puff—“shouted for help.” Middleton turned a page or two of the newspaper, idly scanning the head lines; then as if something of what she had said . COMmMiICLOoOolks (C@