Mark was right, as we already know. But this was not the depth of Hockley’s shortcomings.
The youth had a strong desire to be considered “mannish.” He wanted to follow in the footsteps of certain men he had known and others he had read about. The character of Handsome Jack, “the Dead Game Sport of Chicago,” appealed strongly to him. Jack played cards, drank, went to horse races, and always got the best of the many enemies who tried to “down” him. To poor Hockley, who swallowed these tales and believed them true, he was more of a hero than even “Gold Nose Hank, the Mine Discoverer” had been.
Having seen the others off, Hockley strolled over to a cigar counter in the hotel and invested in a package of cigarettes, one of which he lit and placed the others in his pocket. Then he entered the café and called for a glass of liquor, and while it was coming he sat down at a table in a corner to continue the perusal of his novel.
The fumes of the liquor, and the smoking of several cigarettes, made the misguided youth far from clear headed. But he kept on reading until the volume was finished, Handsome Jack having at last killed off all his enemies in double-quick order. To keep the eyes of the waiter off of him, Hockley ordered another glass of liquor which he also consumed. Then he threw the book in a corner, arose and stretched himself.
“Guess I’ll go out and have some sport,” he muttered. “It’s dead slow hanging around like this. I came to see the sights and I’m going to see ’em—professor or no professor. There must be lots of sport going on in a town of this size,—variety shows, gambling, and such—and I’m going to hunt ’em up, and if I don’t find ’em then my name ain’t Jake Hockley!”
And paying the amount of his bill he shuffled out of the brilliantly lighted café and was soon lost to sight in the darkness of the night.
CHAPTER IX
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HOCKLEY
“What a truly magnificent place!”
Such was Frank’s comment when they entered the opera house and took the seats Professor Strong had purchased. Frank had been to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York city, yet the present place struck him even more favorably, with its immense size, its gorgeous decorations and its many and varied lights.
“It’s all right,” returned Mark. “But I can’t say as much for the crowd. It’s quite a mixture.”