HOW SPIKE HEARKENED TO POISONOUS SUGGESTION AND SOAPY BEGAN TO WONDER
Spike was on his way from the office, very conscious of his new straw
hat and immaculate collar; his erstwhile shabby suit had been cleaned
and pressed by Hermione's skilled and loving fingers, hence Spike turned
now and then as he passed some shop window to observe the general effect
with furtive eye; and stimulated by his unwontedly smart appearance, he
whistled joyously as he betook himself homeward. Moreover in his breast
pocket was his pay envelope, not very bulky to be sure, wherein lay his
first week's wages, and as often as he turned to glance at the tilt of
the straw hat or heed the set of his tie, his hand must needs steal to
this envelope to make sure of its safety. His fingers were so employed
when he chanced to espy a certain article exposed for sale in an
adjacent shop window; whereupon, envelope in hand, he incontinent
entered and addressed the plump Semitic merchant in his usual easy
manner.
"Greetings, Abe! I'll take one o' them hair-combs."
"Hair-gombs?" nodded the merchant. "Vot kind?"
"What kind? Why, the best you got."
"Ve got 'em up to veefty dollars--"
"Come off it, Cain, come off--I ain't purchasin' a diamond aigrette
to-day, it's a lady's hair-comb I want--good, but not too
flossy-lookin'--savvy that? This'll do, I guess--how much? Right there!"
said Spike, flicking a bill upon the counter. "That's it, stick it in a
box--oh, never mind th' wrappin's. S'long, Daniel!"
With his purchase in his pocket, Spike strode out of the shop,
whistling cheerily, but the merry notes ended very suddenly as he dodged
back again, yet not quite quick enough, for a rough voice hailed him,
hoarse and jovial.
"Why, hello, Kid, how goes it?" M'Ginnis's heavy hand descended on his
shrinking shoulder and next moment he was out on the sidewalk where
Soapy lounged, a smouldering cigarette pendent from his thin, pallid
lips as usual. And Soapy's eyes, so bright between their narrowed, puffy
lids, so old-seeming in the youthful oval of his pale face, were like
his cigarette, in that they smouldered also.
"Holy smoke!" exclaimed M'Ginnis, surveying Spike up and down in mock
amazement, "this ain't you, Kid--no, this sure ain't you. Looks all t'
th' company-promoter, don't he, Soapy?"
"'S' right, Kid, 's' right!" nodded the pallid youth, his smouldering
eyes always turning toward M'Ginnis.
"Say, now, Bud, quit your kiddin'!" said Spike petulantly.
"But, Gee whiz!" exclaimed M'Ginnis, tightening his grasp, "you sure are
some class, Kid, in that stiff collar an' sporty tie. How's the stock
market? Are ye a bull or a bear?"
"Ah, cut it out, Bud!" cried the lad, writhing.
"Right-o, Kid, right-o!" said M'Ginnis, loosing his hold. "You're comin'
over t' O'Rourke's t'night, of course?"
"Why, no, Bud--I can't."
"Oh, t' hell wid that--I got you all fixed up to go ten rounds wid Young
Alf, th' East Side Wonder--"
"What?" exclaimed Spike, his eyes bright and eager, "you got me a match
wi' Young Alf? Say, Bud--you ain't stringing me, are ye?"
"Not much. I told you I'd get ye a real chance--"
"Why," cried Spike, "if I was t' lick Young Alf, I'd be in line t' meet
th' top-notchers!"
"Sure--if you lick him!" nodded M'Ginnis grimly.
"Say," said Spike, his face radiant, "I've just been waitin' an'
waitin' for a chance like this--a chance t' show you an' th' bunch I can
handle myself, an' now"--he stopped all at once, and shaking his head
gloomily, turned away. "I forgot, I--I can't, Bud."
"Aw, what's bitin' ye?"
"I can't come t'night."
"Won't come, ye mean!"
"Can't, Bud."
"Why not?"
"I promised Hermy t' quit fightin'--"
"Is that all? Hermy don't have t' know nothin' about it. This is a swell
chance for ye, Kid, the best you'll ever get, so just skin over t'night
an' don't say nothin' t' nobody."
"I--can't, Bud--that's sure."
"Goin' t' give me d' throw-down, are ye?"
"I don't mean it that ways, Bud, but I can't break my promise t' Hermy--"
"She'd never know."
"She'd find out some ways; she always does, and I can't lie t' her."
"So you won't come, hey? We ain't classy enough for ye these days, hey?
I guess goin' to an office every day is one thing an' crackin' a
millionaire's crib's another."
"Cheese it, Bud, cheese it!" gasped Spike, pale and trembling.
"Right-o, Kid!" nodded M'Ginnis, "but I've been wantin' t' know how ye
made your get-away that night."
"Oh, quit--quit talkin' of it!" Spike panted. "I--I want t' forget all
about it. I been tryin' t' think it never happened."
"Ah, but you know it did," said M'Ginnis, "an' I know it, an' Soapy
knows it did--don't yer, Soapy?"
"'S' right!" nodded Soapy, his voice soft, his eyes hard and malevolent.
"So we kinder want t' know," continued M'Ginnis, heedless always of
those baleful watching eyes, "we just want t' get on t' how you--"
"Oh, say--give it a rest!" cried Spike desperately. "Give it a rest,
can't ye?"
"Why, then, Kid, what about comin' over t' O'Rourke's t'night?"
Spike wrung his hands. "If Hermy finds out, she'll--cry, I guess--"
"Hermy!" growled M'Ginnis, black brows fierce and scowling, "a hell of
a lot you care for Hermy, I--don't think!"
"Say now, you Bud, whatcher mean?" demanded Spike, quivering with sudden
anger.
"Just this, Kid--what kind of a brother are ye t' go lettin' that noo
pal o' yours--that guy you call Geoff--go sneaking round her morning,
noon, an' night?"
"You cut that out, Bud M'Ginnis. Geoff don't! Geoff ain't that kind."
"He don't, eh? Well, what about all this talk that's goin' on--about him
an' her, an' her an' him--eh?"
"What talk?" demanded Spike, suddenly troubled.
"Why, every one's beginnin' t' notice as they're always meetin' on th'
stairs--an' him goin' into her flat, an' them talkin' an' laughin'
together when you're out o' th' way--ah," growled M'Ginnis, between
grinding white teeth, "an' likely as not kissin' an' squeezin' in
corners--"
"That's enough--that's enough!" cried the boy, fronting M'Ginnis,
fierce-eyed. "Nobody ain't goin' t' speak about Hermy that way."
"Y' can't help it, Kid. Here's this guy Geoff, this pal o' yours--been
with her--in her flat with her, all th' mornin'--ain't he, Soapy?"
"'S' right, Kid!" nodded that pallid individual, the smouldering
cigarette a-swing between pale lips; and, though he addressed Spike, his
furtive eyes, watching aslant between narrowed lids, glittered to behold
M'Ginnis's scowling brow; also the wolverine mouth curled faintly, so
that the pendulous cigarette stirred and quivered.
"Oh, I'm handin' ye the straight goods, Kid," M'Ginnis went on. "I'm
puttin' ye wise because you're my pal, an' because I've known Hermy an'
been kind o' soft about her since we was kids."
"Well, then, you know she--she ain't that sort," said Spike, his voice
quavering oddly. "So--don't you--say no more--see?"
"All right, Kid, all right--only I don't like t' see this pal o' yours
gettin' in his dirty work behind your back. If anything happens--don't
blame me--"
"What--what you tryin' t' tell me--you Bud?" questioned Spike, between
quivering lips.
"I'm tellin' ye things are gettin' too warm--oh, Hermy ain't the icicle
she tries t' make out she is."
"An' I'm tellin' you--you're a liar, Bud M'Ginnis--a dirty liar!" cried
the boy.
M'Ginnis's bull neck swelled; between his thick, black brows a vein
swelled and pulsed. Viewing this, Soapy's glittering eyes blinked, and
the pendulous cigarette quivered faintly again.
"Now by--" began M'Ginnis, lifting menacing fist; then his arm sank, and
he shook his big, handsome head. "Oh, pshaw!" he exclaimed, "I guess
you're all worked up, Kid, so I ain't takin' no notice. But savvy this,
Kid, if Hermy ain't goin' t' marry me on th' level, she ain't goin' t'
let this guy have her--the other way--not much! I guess you ain't
forgotten little Maggie Finlay? Well, watch out your pal Geoff don't
make Hermy go th' same."
Uttering a wild, inarticulate cry, the lad sprang--to be caught in
M'Ginnis's powerful grasp, but, even so, his fist grazed M'Ginnis's
full-lipped mouth. For a moment Spike strove desperately to reach Bud's
grim-smiling face until, finding his efforts vain, he ceased all at
once, bowed his head upon his arms, and burst into a passion of bitter
sobbing; then, with an agile twist, he wrenched himself free, and
turning, sped away, heedless of his jaunty straw hat that had fallen and
lay upon the dusty sidewalk. Languidly Soapy stooped and picked it up.
"His noo lid!" said he. "Only bought t'day, I reckon!"
"Gee!" exclaimed M'Ginnis, staring after Spike's fleeing figure, already
far away, "he sure was some peevish!"
"Some!" nodded Soapy. "If he'd happened t' have a gun handy, here's
where you'd have cashed in for good, I reckon. Yes, Bud, you'd be deader
'n' mutton!" sighed Soapy, turning Spike's hat around upon his finger.
"You'd be as dead as--little Maggie Finlay you was mentionin'!"
M'Ginnis wheeled so suddenly upon the speaker that he took a long
step backward, but he still spun Spike's hat upon his finger, and the
pendulous cigarette quivered quite noticeably. "Aw, quit it, Bud, quit
it!" he sighed. "You know I ain't th' kind o' guy it's healthy to punch
around promiscuous."
"You mean if he'd missed, there was you, eh?"
"Well, I dunno, Bud, if it had been my sister--maybe--"
"Oh, I know the sort o' dirty tyke you are, Soapy--but I'm awake--an'
I've got you, see? If anything was t' happen t' me, I've left
papers--proofs--'n' it 'ud be the chair for yours--savvy?"
"Anyway, Bud, I--I haven't got a sister," said Soapy, juggling deftly
with the hat. "But there's one thing, Bud, th' guy who gets actin' Mr.
Freshy with Hermy is sure goin' to ante-up in kingdom come, if th' Kid's
around."
"You're a dirty dog, Soapy, but you've got brains in your ugly dome,
I guess you're right about th' Kid, an' that gives me an almighty good
idea!" And M'Ginnis walked on awhile, deep in thought; and ever as he
went, so between those pale and puffy lids two malevolent eyes watched
and watched him.
"No," sighed Soapy at last, sliding a long, pale hand into the pocket of
his smartly-tailored coat, "no, I ain't got a sister, Bud, but there was
little Maggie Finlay. I kind o' used t' think she was all t' th' harps
an' haloes. I used t' kind o' hope--but pshaw! she's dead--ain't she,
Bud?"
"I guess so!" nodded M'Ginnis, yet deep in thought.
"An' buried--ain't she, Bud?"
"What th' hell!" exclaimed Bud, turning to stare, "what's bitin' ye?"
"I'm wonderin' 'why', an' I'm likewise wonderin' 'who', Bud. Maybe I'll
find out for sure some day. I'm--waitin', Bud, waitin'. Goin' around t'
O'Rourke's, are ye? Oh, well, I guess I'll hike along wid ye, Bud."