“I think,” said Mr. Dooley, “I'll go down to th' stock yards an' buy a
dhrove iv Steel an' Wire stock.”
“Where wud ye keep it?” asked the unsuspecting Hennessy.
“I'll put it out on th' vacant lot,” said Mr. Dooley, “an' lave it grow
fat by atin' ol' bur-rd cages an' tin cans. I'll milk it hard, an' whin
'tis dhry I'll dispose iv it to th' widdies an' orphans iv th' Sixth
Ward that need household pets. Be hivins, if they give me half a chanst,
I'll be as gr-reat a fi-nanceer as anny man in Wall sthreet.
“Th' reason I'm so confident iv th' value iv Steel an' Wire stock,
Hinnissy, is they're goin' to hur-rl th' chairman iv th' comity into
jail. That's what th' pa-apers calls a ray iv hope in th' clouds iv
dipression that've covered th' market so long. 'Tis always a bull
argymint. 'Snowplows common was up two pints this mornin' on th' rumor
that th' prisidint was undher ar-rest.' 'They was a gr-reat bulge in
Lobster preferred caused be th' report that instead iv declarin' a
dividend iv three hundhred per cint. th' comp'ny was preparin' to
imprison th' boord iv directors.' 'We sthrongly ricommind th' purchase
iv Con and Founder. This comp'ny is in ixcillint condition since th'
hangin' iv th' comity on reorganization.'”
“What's th' la-ad been doin', Hinnissy? He's been lettin' his frinds
in on th' groun' flure--an' dhroppin' thim into th' cellar. Ye know
Cassidy, over in th' Fifth, him that was in th' ligislachure? Well, sir,
he was a gr-reat frind iv this man. They met down in Springfield whin
th' la-ad had something he wanted to get through that wud protect th'
widdies an' orphans iv th' counthry again their own avarice, an' he
must've handed Cassidy a good argymint, f'r Cassidy voted f'r th' bill,
though threatened with lynchin' be stockholders iv th' rival comp'ny.
He come back here so covered with dimons that wan night whin he was
standin' on th' rollin' mill dock, th' captain iv th' Eliza Brown
mistook his shirt front f'r th' bridge lights an' steered into a soap
facthry on th' lee or gas-house shore.”
“Th' man made a sthrong impression on Cassidy. 'Twas: 'As me frind Jawn
says,' or 'I'll ask Jawn about that,' or 'I'm goin' downtown to-day to
find out what Jawn advises.' He used to play a dollar on th' horses or
sivin-up f'r th' dhrinks, but afther he met Jawn he wanted me to put in
a ticker, an' he wud set in here figurin' with a piece iv chalk on how
high Wire'd go if hoopskirts come into fashion again. 'Give me a dhrop
iv whisky,' he says, 'f'r I'm inthrested in Distillers,' he says, 'an'
I'd like to give it a shove,' he says. 'How's Gas?' he says. 'A little
weak, to-day,'” says I.
“Twill be sthronger,' he says. 'If it ain't,' says I, 'I'll take out th'
meter an' connect th' pipe with th' ventilator. I might as well bur-rn
th' wind free as buy it,'” I says.
“A couple iv weeks ago he see Jawn an' they had a long talk about it.
'Cassidy,' says Jawn, 'ye've been a good frind iv mine,' he says, 'an'
I'd do annything in the wurruld f'r ye, no matther what it cost ye,' he
says. 'If ye need a little money to tide over th' har-rd times till th'
ligislachure meets again buy'--an' he whispered in Cassidy's ear. 'But,'
he says, 'don't tell annywan. 'Tis a good thing, but I want to keep it
bottled up,'” he says.
“Thin Jawn took th' thrain an' begun confidin' his secret to a few
select frinds. He give it to th' conductor on th' thrain, an' th'
porther, an' th' candy butcher; he handed it to a switchman that got on
th' platform at South Bend, an' he stopped off at Detroit long enough
to tell about it to the deepo' policeman. He had a sign painted with th'
tip on it an' hung it out th' window, an' he found a man that carrid a
thrombone in a band goin' over to Buffalo, an' he had him set th' good
thing to music an' play it through th' thrain. Whin he got to New York
he stopped at the Waldorf Asthoria, an' while th' barber was powdhrin'
his face with groun' dimons Jawn tol' him to take th' money he was goin'
to buy a policy ticket with an' get in on th' good thing. He tol' th'
bootblack, th' waiter, th' man at th' news-stand, th' clerk behind th'
desk, an' th' bartinder in his humble abode. He got up a stereopticon
show with pitchers iv a widow-an-orphan befure an' afther wirin', an' he
put an advertisement in all th' pa-apers tellin' how his stock wud make
weak men sthrong. He had th' tip sarved hot in all th' resthrants in
Wall sthrcet, an' told it confidintially to an open-air meetin' in
Madison Square. 'They'se nawthin,' he says, 'that does a tip so much
good as to give it circulation,' he says. 'I think, be this time,' he
says, 'all me frinds knows how to proceed, but--Great Hivins!' he says.
'What have I done? Whin all the poor people go to get th' stock they
won't be anny f'r thim. I can not lave thim thus in th' lurch. Me
reputation as a gintleman an' a fi-nanceer is at stake,' he says.
'Rather than see these brave people starvin' at th' dure f'r a morsel iv
common or preferred, I'll--I'll sell thim me own stock,' he says. An' he
done it. He done it, Hinnissy, with unfalthrin' courage an' a clear
eye. He sold thim his stock, an' so's they might get what was left at a
raysonable price, he wrote a confidintial note to th' pa-apers tellin'
thim th' stock wasn't worth thirty cints a cord, an' now, be hivins,
they're talkin' iv puttin' him in a common jail or pinitinchry
preferred. Th' ingratichood iv man.”
“But what about Cassidy?” Mr. Hennessy asked.
“Oh,” said Mr. Dooley, “he was in here las' night. 'How's our old frind
Jawn?' says I. He said nawthin'. 'Have ye seen ye'er collidge chum iv
late?' says I. 'Don't mintion that ma-an's name,' says he. 'To think iv
what I've done f'r him,' he says, 'an' him to throw me down,' he says.
'Did ye play th' tip?' says I. 'I did,' says he. 'How did ye come
out?' says I. 'I haven't a cint lift but me renommynation f'r th'
ligislachure,' says he. 'Well,' says I, 'Cassidy,' I says, 'ye've
been up again what th' pa-apers call hawt finance,' I says. 'What th'
divvle's that?' says he. 'Well,' says I, 'it ain't burglary, an' it
ain't obtainin' money be false pretinses, an' it ain't manslaughter,'
I says. 'It's what ye might call a judicious seliction fr'm th' best
features iv thim ar-rts,' I says. 'T'was too sthrong f'r me,' he says.
'It was,' says I. 'Ye're about up to simple thransom climbin', Cassidy,'
I says.”