More beer, and a moment of silence.
“W'at's you' goil May doin'?” asked Rice.
“She's graftin' a little,” responded Jackeen; “but w'at wit' th' stores full of private dicks a booster can't do much.”
“Well, you can bet May ought to know!” returned Rice. “As a derrick, she' got the Darby Kid an' the best of 'em beat four ways from th' jack. She could bring home th' bacon, if any of them hoisters could.”
Then appeared Lulu the houseless—Lulu, the forlorn and outcast Eve of that Catherine Street Eden!
Lulu stood a polite moment behind the chair of Jackeen. At a lull in the talk, she whispered a word in his ear. He looked up, nodded, and then followed her out into Doyers Street.
“It's this way,” said Lulu. “May's copped th' Doc from me, see! An' she's givin' you the cross, Jackeen. You ought to hand her out a good heatin'. She's over hittin' the pipe wit' th' Doc right now.”
“G'wan!” came jealously from Jackeen.
“Honest! You come wit' me to number Nineteen, an' I'll show youse.”
Jackeen paused as though weighing the pros and cons.