“Igottohavemebitofcoke，“Pinkieanswered，withashrugofhisshoulders。“An’，anyway，I’mnopipe-hitter。
“It’sallthesamewhateverwayyoutakeit！“retortedShluker。
“Well，goonwithyourstory。YouwentdowntoCharlie’sdopeparlors，andjabbedaneedleintoyourself，ortookitsomeotheroldway。Igetyou！Whathappenedthen？“
“Itwasaboutanhourago，“resumedPinkieBonnwithundisturbedcomplacency。“JustasIwasbeatin’itoutoftherebythecellar，Ihearssomewhisperin’asIwaspassin’oneoftheenddoors。
Savvy？Ihadn’tmadenonoise，an’theyhadn’theardme。Igetsapeekin，’causethedoor’scracked。ItwasFrenchPetean’MarnyDay。Ilistens。An’afterabouttwosecondsIwasgoin’shakyforfearsomeonewouldcomealongan’Iwouldn’tgetthewholeofit。
Takeitfromme，Shluk，itwassomegoods！“
Shlukergruntednoncommittingly。
“Well，goon！“heprompted。
“Ididn’tgetallthefinepoints，“grinnedPinkie；“butIgotenough。TherewasaguybythenameofDaineywhousedtolivesomewhereontheEastSidehere，an’heusedtoworkinsomesweat-shop，an’heworkedtillhegotprettyold，an’thenhislungs，orsomething，wentbadonhim，an’hewentbroke。An’thedoctorsaidhehadtobeatitoutofheretoamoresalubriousclimate。Somenutfilledhisearfull’boutgoldhuntin’upinAlaska，an’hefellforit。Hecheweditoverwithhiswife，an’
shewasforittoo，’causethedoctor’dtoldherheroldmanwouldbumpoffifhestuckaroundhere，an’theyhadn’tanymoneytogetawaytogether。Shefiguredshecouldgetalongworkin’outbythedaytillhecamebackamillionaire；an’oldDaineystartedoff。
“Idunnohowhegotthere。I’mjustfillin’inwhatIhearsFrenchPetean’Marnytalkin’about。Iguessmostlyhebeathiswaythereridin’therods；but，anyway，hegotthere。See？An’thenhegoesdownsickthereagain，an’ahospital，orsomeoutfit，hastotakecareofhimforacoupleofyears；an’backheretheoldwomangotkindoffeeblean’onheruppers，antherewashelltopay，an’-“
“Wot’sbitin’youse，Nan？“ThePug’slispingwhisperbrokesharplyinuponPinkieBonn’sstory。
RhodaGraystarted。Shewasconsciousnowthatshehadbeenleaningforward，staringinastartledwayatPinkieashetalked；consciousnowthatforamomentshehadforgotten-thatshewasGypsyNan。
Butshewasmistressofherselfontheinstant，andshescowledblacklyatthePug。
“Mabbeit’smesoftheartdat’stouched！“sheflungoutacidly。
“Yousecloseyertrap，an’letPinkietalk！“
“Yes，shutup！“saidPinkie。“WhatwasIsayin’？Oh，yes！An’
thentheoldguymakesastrike。Canyoubeatit！Idunnonothingaboutthewaytheypullthemthings，buthe’soffbyhislonesomeoutsomewhere，an’hefindsgold，an’stakesouthisclaim，buthetakessickagainan’can’tworkit，an’it’sallhecandotogetbackalivetocivilization。Hekeepshismouthshutforawhile，figurin’he’llgetstrongagain，butitain’tnogood，an’
hegetsaletterfromtheoldwomantellin’howbadsheis，an’
thenheshowssomeofthestuffhe’dfound。Afterthatthere’snothingtoit！Everybody’sbeatin’itfortheplace；but，atthat，oldDaineycomesoutofitallright，an’goescrazywithjoy’causesomeguyoffershimtwenty-fivethousandbucksforhisclaim，an’throwsintheexpenseshomeforgoodluck。Hegetsthemoneyincash，twenty-fiveone-thousand-dollarbills，an’thechickenfeedfortheexpenses，an’startsforbackherean’theoldwoman。
Butthistimehedon’tkeephismouthshutaboutitwhenhe’dhavebeenbetteroffifhehad。See？Hewastellin’aboutitonthetrain。Iguesshewastellin’aboutitallthewayacross。But，anyway，hetellsaboutitcomm’fromPhillythisafternoon，an’
FrenchPetean’MarnyDayhappenstobeonthetrain，an’theyhearsit，an’framesituptoannexthecoinbeforemorning，’causehe’sgotintoolatetogetthemoneyintoanybankto-day。“
PinkieBonnpaused，andstuckhistonguesignificantlyinhischeek。
Shlukerwasrubbinghishandstogethernowinasortofunctuousway。
“Itsoundsprettygood，“hemurmured；“onlythere’sDanglar-“
“YouseleaveDanglartome！“brokeinthePug。“Assoonaswehandsonetodemtwoboobsan’getsdecash，PinkiecanbeatitbackherewiddecoinanwaitfermewhileIfindsDanglaran’
squaresitwidhim。Heain’tgoin’toputupnoholleratdat。Weain’trunnin’degangintonothin’。Disisprivatebusiness-see？
Soyousejusttakeasneakwidyerself，an’fixanicelittlealibiferusso’swewon’tbetakin’anychances。“
Shlukerfrowned。
“Butwhat’sthegoodofthat？“hedemurred。“FrenchPeteandMarnyDay’11seeyouanyway。“
“Willdey！“scoffedthePug。“Guessoncemore！Acouplahandkerchiefsoverourmugsisgoodenoughferdem，ifyouseholdsyerendup。An’deywouldn’ttalkferpublication，anyway，woulddey？“
Shlukersmilednow-almostingratiatingly。
“Andhowmuchismyendworth？“heinquiredsoftly。
“Oneofdemthousand-dollarengravin’s，“statedthePugpromptly。
“An’Pinkie’llrunaroundan’slipittoyousebeforemornin’“
“Allright，“saidShluker，afteramoment。“It’shalfpasteightnow。Fromnineo’clockon，youcanbeatanyjuryinNewYorktoitthatyouwerebothatthesameoldplace-aslongasyoukeepdecentlyundercover。That’lldo，won’tit？I’llfixit。ButI
don’tsee-“
RhodaGray，asGypsyNan，forthefirsttimeprojectedherselfintothediscussion。Shecackledsuddenlyinjeeringmirth。
“It’oughtsomethingwaswrongwidher！“whisperedthePugwithmockanxiety。“Mabbesheain’twell！Tellusaboutit，Nan！“
“WhenIdo，“shesaidcomplacently，“mabbeyouse’llsmileoutofdeothercornerofdatmouthofyers！“SheturnedtoShluker。“Youseneedn’tlayawakewaitin’ferdatthousand，Shluker，’causeyouse’llneverseeit。Delittlegame’salloff-’causeit’salreadybeenpulled。See？DerewasnearariotasIpassesalongastreetgoin’
toyerplace，an’Igetspipedofftowot’sup，an’it’sdesamestorydatPinkie’stold，an’decrib’scracked，an’demoney’sgone-dat’sall。“
Shluker’sfacefell。
“IsaidyouwerefoolswhenIfirstcameinhere！“heburstoutsuddenly，wheelingonPinkieBonnandthePug。“I’msureofitnow。
Iwaswonderinaminuteagohowyouweregoin’tokeepyourlampsonPeteandMarnyfromhere，orknowwhentheyweregoin’topulltheirstunt，orwheretofind’em。“
PinkieBonn，ignoringShluker，leanedtowardRhodaGray。
“Say，Nan，isthatstraight？“heinquiredanxiously。“Yousure？“
“Sure，I’msure！“RhodaGrayassertedtersely。Theonethoughtinherheadnowwasthatherinformationwouldnaturallydeprivethesemenhereofanyfurtherinterestinthematter，andthatshewouldgetawayasquicklyaspossible，and，insomewayorother，seethatthepoliceweretippedofftothefactthatitwasFrenchPeteandMarnyDaywhohadtakentheoldcouple’smoney。Thosetwooldfacesrosebeforeheragainnow-blottingoutmostcuriouslythefaceofPinkieBonnjustinfrontofher。Shefeltstrangelyglad-gladthatshehadheardallofoldDainey’sstory，becauseshecouldseenowanendingtoitotherthanthemiserable，hopelessoneofdespairthatshehadreadintheDaineys’facesjustalittlewhileago。“Sure，I’msure！“sherepeatedwithfinality。
“Howlongagowasit？“proddedPinkie。
“Idunno，“sheanswered。“IjustwenttoShluker’s，an’denwecomesoverhere。Yousecanfigureitferyerself。“
AndthenRhodaGraystaredattheother-withsuddenmisgiving。
PinkieBonn’sfacewassuddenlywreathedinsmiles。
“I’llansweryounow，Shluk，“hegrinned。“Whatdoyouthink？Thatwe’renuts，mean’Pug？Well，forgetit！Wedidn’thavetostickaroundwatchin’Petean’Marny；wejusthadtowaituntiltheyhadcollectedthedough。Thatwasthemosttroublewehad-wonderin’
whenthatwouldbe。Well，wedon’thavetowonderanymore。Weknownowthatthecherriesareripe。See？An’nowwe’llgoan’
pick’em！Where？Whered’yesuppose？DowntoCharlie’s，ofcourse！
Ihears’emtalkin’aboutthat，too。Theyain’tsofoolish！They’reoutforanalibithemselves。Gettheidea？TheywastosneakoutofCharlie’swithoutanybodyseem’’em，an’ifeverythingbrokerightfor’em，theywastosneakbackagainan’spendthenightthere。No，theyain’tsofoolish-Iguesstheyain’t！Thereain’tnoplaceinNewYorkyoucangetinan’outofwithoutnobodyknowin’
itlikeCharlie’s，ifyouknowtheway，an-“
