“All in?” echoed Bill. “I’m worse than that, boys.”
“How is the lady?” asked one of the sleuths.
“I don’t know how she is now, and I don’t care.”
“You don’t care? You don’t?” said the group, in chorus.
“Why, Bill, what’s happened?”
“Why, that lady is a she-devil. She and her brother fleeced me of five thousand dollars. I ain’t had a night’s rest since I left the Isthmus with her. She never give me a lovin’ word nor a lovin’ look, nor a minute’s peace of mind.”
“And where is she now, Bill?” asked John Hogan.
“Gawd knows. I lit out and left her with the man that she said was her brother in Havana.”
“What sort of a looking man was he?” asked Higgins, becoming interested.
“He was the goldurndest lookin-pirate that I ever seen in all my life,” answered Bill, becoming very red in the face.