"I goes to the desk 'n' wigwags the clerk. He's a fair-haired boy with a alabaster dome.
"'Are they runnin' poolrooms in the village?' I says.
"'Yes, sir,' he says. 'Pool and billiard room just across the street.'
"'Much obliged,' I says. I see the tomtit ain't got a man's size chirp in him, so I goes outside 'n' hunts up a bull.
"'Can you wise me up to a pony bazaar in this neck of the woods?' I says to him.
"'Go chase yourself,' he says. 'What do you think I am—a capper?'
"'Be a sport,' I says. 'Come through with the info—I ain't a live one. I'm a chalker, 'n' I'm flat. I'm lookin' fur a job.'
"He sizes me up fur quite a while.
"'Well,' he says at last, 'I guess if they trim you they'll earn it. Go down two blocks, then half a block to your right and take a squint at the saloon with the buffalo head over the bar.'
"I finds the saloon easy enough.