The Easiest Way eBook

Eugene Walter
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 152 pages of information about The Easiest Way.

The Easiest Way eBook

Eugene Walter
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 152 pages of information about The Easiest Way.

LAURA.  Privilege car?

JIM.  Had charge of all the pickpockets,—­dips we called ‘em—­sure-thing gamblers, and the like.  Made him rich.  I kept sort o’ on the level and I’m broke.  Guess it don’t pay to be honest—­

LAURA. [Turns to him and in a significant voice:] You don’t really think that?

JIM.  No, maybe not.  Ever since I married the missis and the first kid come, we figured the only good money was the kind folks worked for and earned; but when you can’t get hold of that, it’s tough.

LAURA.  I know.

JIM.  Burgess don’t seem to be losing sleep over the tricks he’s turned.  He’s happy and prosperous, but I guess he ain’t any better now than he was then.

LAURA.  Maybe not.  I’ve been trying to get an engagement from him.  There are half a dozen parts in his new attractions that I could do, but he has never absolutely said “no,” but yet somehow he’s never said “yes.”

JIM.  He spoke about you.

LAURA.  In what way? [Rising, stands behind JIM’S chair.

JIM.  I gave him my address and he seen it was yours, too.  Asked if I lived in the same place.

LAURA.  Was that all?

JIM.  Wanted to know how you was getting on.  I let him know you needed work, but I didn’t tip my hand you was flat broke.  He said something about you being a damned fool.

LAURA. [Suddenly and interested.] How? [She crosses.

JIM.  Well, Johnny Ensworth—­you know he used to do the fights on the Evening Journal; now he’s press-agent for Burgess; nice fellow and way on the inside—­he told me where you were in wrong.

LAURA.  What have I done? [Sits in armchair.

JIM.  Burgess don’t put up the money for any of them musical comedies—­he just trails.  Of course he’s got a lot of influence, and he’s always Johnny-on-the-Spot to turn any dirty trick that they want.  There are four or five rich men in town who are there with the bank-roll, providing he engages women who ain’t so very particular about the location of their residence, and who don’t hear a curfew ring at 11:30 every night.

LAURA.  And he thinks I am too particular?

JIM.  That’s what was slipped me.  Seems that one of the richest men that is in on Mr. Burgess’s address-book is a fellow named Brockton from downtown some place.  He’s got more money than the Shoe and Leather National Bank.  He likes to play show business.

LAURA. [Rises quickly.] Oh! [Crosses to wardrobe, gets hat; crosses to dresser, gets scissors with intention of curling feathers.

JIM.  I thought you knew him.  I thought it was just as well to tell you where he and Burgess stand.  They’re pals.

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Easiest Way from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.