Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine, Vol. 107 No. 3 — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

ALIAS THE one for you if he gives me two to-morrow. He give me two to-day. I’m saving all my seegar money toward an oat bill.” ~ “You’ve talked with him quite a little, ain’t you?” *‘ All the spare time he’s had, I guess, ‘ outside of his business, I talked with him when he registered first; I t4lked with him both before and after supper; and we’d be talkin’ yet, I guess, but he excused himself and went to his room about half past seven to figger up his business and re-tire. He seems to be a right smart young man—none smarter.” “ Well, if he’s smoking such good cigars, and can afford to give ’em to you, how does he buy them?” ‘“‘ With golden fleece,” returned Mr. Bug- bee, both placidly and unhesitatingly. “How many cigars like them you're smoking did he buy with the money he made selling typewriters to Henry Phelps?”’ “Did anybody ever buy seegars that ever tried to sell anything to Henry Phelps to git the money with? I will say for Henry, though, that he ain’t no tighter than the bark to a tree.” Marshal Tom smiled acidly. ‘“‘ How many cigars did he buy with the typewriters he sold to your old phaeton out in the back shed?” he waspishly retorted. Mr. Bugbee inwardly felt like a man in a big “ roodle pot ” suddenly about to be “ called” with only a “ kilter ”—which is. Coalportese for any five cards ranging from the deyce to the nine and including the five, but without anything else, even simi- larity of color or pairs. Dissimilarity, indeed, is requisite to the composition of a true kilter, and it is not considered good form among poker-players to be caught with one. It is considered much better form—in fact, it is the hall- mark of a real poker-player—first to win the pot and then display the kilter without having to display it before any one wins the pot. The penalty for bad form regarding kilters is invariably forfeiture of the pot. Mr. Bugbee deftly sidestepped the penalty, for the moment. ‘“‘ Marshal Tom,” said Mr. Biche, oT didn’t know he did until you mentioned it. an GLEWORM. 407 I don’t know why he went in +: here: but [ll ask him when I git you that good seegar from him to-morrow. ’Scuse me a minit; I got to fix thag furnace.” Mr. Bugbee slipped down to the cellar, banged the furnace door without a pause, slipped up the outside cellar stairs leading into the shed behind to inspect his phaeton, at the same instant Jimmy Stuart dropped from the roof and started across the lot for the Olympian Theater, with the sole object _ of avoiding being seen by Mr. Bugbee. — Jimmy came to the ground so close to Mr. Bugbee that the clerk could have reached out and touched him. Only, in the misty darkness, Mr. Bugbee didn’t recognize Jimmy at the instant, as he lacked the flaming neckwear he had worn during the afternoon, and thus lost a truly golden opportunity of making two touches—one of and the other from his guest in Room 36—then and there. It was not until Jimmy emerged from the space between the buildings and on to the lighted street that Mr. Bugbee discerned him well enough to recognize him. By then the crowd forbade the “ touch ” that Mr. Bugbee might otherwise have made, for it swallowed up Jimmy around the front door of the theater. | Mr. Bugbee in a trice was back in the shed inspecting his phaeton. None of its parts was missing, nor, like those of King Robert, had they been anatomically dis- membered in the slightest. Mr. Bugbee leaped back into the cellar, made enough noise with the furnace to rouse the envy of Vulcan—another Olym- pian—and came back into the lobby of the hotel to wash his hands ere resuming his Ts cards.”’ It was no longer a kilter hand. So he relighted his seegar again and blew the smoke over into the face of the marshal, who glowered down at the feet of him. The marshal continued to teeter one foot. and then the other, until King Robert of Sicily made his appearance before the man under discussion. Then Marshal Tom asked: “Ts this here Stuart a confidence man, Tim?” ‘““He inspires it in people,” said Mr. CELDOO© Co S Co mM