"'I always lose,' she says. 'But then, I'm a rummy. Can you tell which horse is going to win, Blister?'
"'Sometimes,' I says.
"'When you go back to the track will you put me wise so I can win?' she says.
"'You bet I will, girlie!' I says. 'Any time I cut loose a good thing you gets the info right from the feed-box.'
"De Mott keeps noticin' us stickin' together. He's talkin' to her once when I'm passin' by.
"'He's on the square,' she says pretty loud. 'And that's more than you can say about a lot of people I know.'
"'That big ham was trying to knock you,' she says to me afterwards.
"We makes a bunch of towns. Nothin' very big—burgs like Erie 'n' Grand Rapids 'n' Dayton. Finally we hits St. Louis fur a two weeks' stand. This suits me. I'm sure tired of shippin' the dogs every few days.
"One night the chicken stops me as I'm takin' the pups to their kennel.
"'Come back for me, Blister,' she says, 'when you get your horses put up. There's a Johnny in this town that's pestering the life out of me. He wants me to go to 'Frisco with him.'