Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 124, No. 3 — page 148: what you’re looking at

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

522 mine, or anybody else’s if they handles their affairs right. Just’ at the time when I’m kind of kick- ing myself, the orchestra starts a piece of music I hears one night at the Star and Garter, the words going something like this: “ What's the use of dreaming, dreams of rosy hue; What’s the use of dreaming, dreams that never could come true. You are worth a million, there is not a doubt— Then your pipe goes out.” Ain’t it the truth? And yet—oh, hell! What’s the use? I guess Doc Seymour and Miller, and all the other well-fixed guys I sees around me has as much worry and grief as I has, and maybe a darn sight more, in spite of their having it pretty soft in some ways. Things even up pretty much in this world, but it’s pretty nice not to have to worry about the dicks being wise to your map. Say, you reads in the magazines about some gink talking about his jane, and he says she’s “wonderful.” That always gives me a pain, that “ wonderful ” stuff, but after I meets Miss Hope I sees that maybe the guy who’s pulling the stuff has met some girl like her. Take a woman who has no sense and she might be a bear for looks, but that’s all. But when you sees a woman who’s been educated, who’s traveled, who’s wise to everything that’s fit to know, and then hand her a bunch of good looks—say, man, then you have some- thing worth while. And that was Miss Hope. I don’t know how I gets through with the supper, and the theater party. I says “yes’m ” and “no’m” when ,I thinks it’s right, and does my darndest with all the forks and spoons they piles up around my plate, and nobody gives me the laugh, so I guess I gets away with it all right. We goes to the theater in a gasoline bus, but all the actors is wops, and while. they does a lot of singing that’s pretty good, I don’t think anybody’s wise to what they're singing about, but everybody is good-na- tured and don’t make a roar. We has a box, and between the singing, Miss Hope pumps me all about Hooch, and what he’s been doing, and I eases it down a bit for ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. her, and don’t get into the rough stuff like I hands it to Miller and the doc. I figures Miss Hope is going to marry Hooch some- time, and what’s the use of her having a lot of stuff on him that she can hang over his head? And at that, Hooch ain’t been responsible; us jobbies gets him into all the deals. | But I tells her about the deal in Kansas, when we gets the run and she cries about it. She’s a heap interested in how Hooch gets the picture, and says she went out to Seat- tle to try and calm herself after they all thinks Hooch has been croaked, and had her picture took, and she’s always been hopeful that Hooch wasn’t dead, and her name being Hope, too, she writes that ‘Picture of Hope ” across the map on ene she sends to an aunt in Kansas City, and the aunt never gets it, and it’s very likely the one the little missies find on the rail- road track. She says it was the work of Providence, and wants to know the name of the town so she can write to the little girls, but I don’t remember the place, or where it was. We all starts for Denvef the next morn- ing,.and it’s only a day or two before every- thing is fixed up. Hooch Is up and areund the dump when we get there, and he almost keels over when Miss Hope comes in first and rushes up to him. Slim and Tommy is there with me and Miller and the doc, and we all looks out the windows while the two hands each other a little loving talk, and hugs each other a bit. I’ve seen sOme lucky guys in my time; I’ve seen jobbies break a faro bank, or clean out the* house at roulette, or make a clean get-away with a roll that would choke the fire-box of a locomotive, but take it from me, ’bo, the man who has all the love of a good woman is the luckiest guy who ever lives. It’s handy to have a bunch of frog-skins, [ll tell the world it is, but the guy who has a woman loving. him, and thmking of him, and doing for him—everythmg will come out right for that guy if he does what’s right. Live and learn as the fellow says, and I sure wises up on a whole lot in the plant I’m just telling you about. And now there ain’t no more to tell; not a hell of a lot, anyway. Hooch and GON Gwoolks Colin