Page:The Tattooed Countess (1924).pdf/39

 Foolin' round all day with that old maid school-teacher. He orter be spanked an' put to work.

That's where he belongs, Mrs. Fox agreed. Boys o' that age ain't got no business loafin'.

You speak the gospel, Mrs. Fox. When Eddie was five years old he was earnin' his livin'.

Mr. Fox begun at ten. First thing you know, that boy'll get it in the neck where the chicken got the ax.

The invisible hands in the next house, having pounded out Narcissus four times, began a relentlessly fortissimo assault on To a wild rose. Reflectively, Mrs. Bierbauer scratched a mosquito bite: on her flabby, red wrist. Presently she spoke again: Old man Baker's gone on another toot.

You don't say!

To Chicago. Eddie saw him goin' into a burlesque show. There was livin' pitchers an' hoochiecoochie dancers.

It's a blessin' his wife don't know about him. Her piety'd get an awful whack if she heard that!

Yes, an' her always goin' round convertin' people. She came here oncet. She'd orter begin at home.

At this point Trilby suddenly woke up, opened first one eye, then the other, made a quick snap at a fly, caught it, chewed it, swallowed it, and went back to sleep, after emitting a sigh of content. The snoring and snorting and wheezing of Free Silver