The d— lout of a barber got my money after all. I met the queen on the street once afterwards. Her eyes were not working, some one had bruised them for her.
“What’s the matter, little one,” said I, “who has been trying to put your lamps out?”
“That steady of mine,” said she, “he accused me of holding out on him.”
“Why don’t you quit him, little one?”
“Oh, I couldn’t do that. You see he is always good to me when he doesn’t booze or he gets it into his fool head that I am flirting with some one.”
And still we wonder at crime.
The little queen has passed out of my life, and me—have I sworn off on queens? Well, not exactly, but if I know it I have sworn off on barber’s queens.
Dug and I were out on the Germantown road the other evening. We were out to see some friends and had taken a few bowls with Hank and a few bowls with Jim, and when we got ready to start home we were feeling rich, good natured and prosperous, and Germantown road, Billy, doesn’t run the same as the other streets in Philadelphia, but looks as though it had been taken from some other city and dropped into Philadelphia crossways. This plays hob with the street corners and a fellow never knows where the street cars are going to stop.
We stationed ourselves at a corner, where we figured they ought to stop, and waited. When the car came it went by us like the wind and the motorman was motioning us to get to the next corner. By the time we got to the next corner, the car was half way down town. Dug was mad, but I reminded him that we had all night to get to the hotel in, and that we were safe for the next car. It was late and the cars did not run often, but one came at last. The first thing I noticed when the car hove in sight was the motorman gesticulating with all his might for us to get back to the corner where we were before. This made Dug madder than ever and he would not stir and, of course, the car went by us again. I laughed, which did not improve Dug’s temper.
“Think you are smart, don’t you?” said he. “Now, I am going to make you pay for this. I will bet you a sawbuck that the next car stops right between these points,” indicating the two corners where we had missed before.