Oscar the Detective | Page 3

out with him?"
"Oh, I was gentle with him--very gentle. He winked and I understood what he meant and let up on him and permitted him to punch me. Yes, it was business with him, you know, and I could have knocked him out before all his pupils, so I just let him punch me."
"He is a pretty hard hitter they say."
"Oh, no, I didn't mind his blows. He is very active--yes, very active."
"Did he bleed you?"
"Oh, yes, I let him bleed me a little. I was gentle, you know, and I took a black eye which I carried for a week, and he afterward apologized. Yes, he was very grateful because I was so gentle and let him punch me. I spared him, but when I looked in the glass I told him that next time I'd have to rap back a little."
The men all laughed and one of them said: "I reckon he will not tackle you again?"
"No, I guess not--hee, hee, hee! I tell you when I threaten a man he looks out--yes, he does--hee, hee, hee!"
"I reckon you are a lucky gambler."
"You bet I am."
"Yes, you educated fellows are always quick in making combinations. I like to play with a good player and learn his 'points.' I am always ready to lose to learn. What do you say for a little game with a light ante?"
"Well, now see here, I don't want to rob you gentlemen--you've been so kind to me."
"Oh, we don't mind losing a few dollars. You see, we are contractors. We do big jobs for the city; we've plenty of money, only we ain't educated, see, that's all. We've worked our way in the world. We are self-made men."
"Well, do you know, I've got the highest regard for self-made men. My daddy was a self-made man. He was a government contractor, and when he died he left my mamma a million, and it will all come to me some day. Yes, I am the lucky only child, I am; but I don't want to rob you gentlemen."
"Oh, we've all plenty of money to lose, and it's an honor to play with a real gentleman. We don't always have that privilege, and it's real condescending in you."
"Oh, yes, I am very condescending--yes, yes--hee, hee, hee! But really I'd only rob you gentlemen. I call you gentlemen because you are gentlemen. I always judge of a man as I find him, as Bobby Burns bid us do, see--hee, hee, hee!"
The party had drank several times and the dude began to show the effect of his drinks. He was a dude as true and genuine as ever lived.
"Let's go upstairs and have a quiet game," said the man; "we don't want to play down here where we will be disturbed by every low fellow that comes in. I tell you, gentlemen, we must protect our guest from annoyance--he is so kind as to give us a game and teach us a few points."
"Say, gentlemen, I am not aristocratic; I don't put on airs; I'd just as soon play down here."
"No, it is much nicer upstairs. We can have a quiet game and take our refreshments," and addressing the bartender the man asked:
"Are you putting up the best every time, Sandy?"
"Sure, I do; I knows me business, I do; I knows when a gentleman stands in front of the bar."
Young reader, this may be a lonely sort of siren play, but it is true to life and should prove a lesson. The men were flattering the dude, and flattery is always based on design and a selfish motive. Beware of the flatterer in the first place. Eschew gambling--if you are only playing for fun it costs as much as though you were playing to make money. It is demoralizing every time, and often leads to greater crime. Gambling is a very dangerous amusement. These men were working the dude, and it is, as we have intimated, an actual incident we are describing. The conversation we reproduce verbatim. They were alluring the young man to rob him, and if the stake had been big enough these birds of prey would willingly have murdered their victim in the end to cover up the lesser crime with the greater, for they were believers in the false logic that "dead men tell no tales." We say false logic, for dead men, though their lips are silent, as a rule--ay, almost always--leave silent testimonies behind that speak for them, and crime is always revealed. The silence of the murdered is a dangerous release, for murder "will out," though, as stated, the lips of the victims are sealed in death.
Dudie Dunne played well his part. He did not readily consent to go upstairs. He was playing a great game, playing on novel plans, taking