oil mill nor a steel factory between 'em
when they was born. I got all their numbers. I know jest how they done
it, an' when I get time I'm a-goin' out an' make the Guggenhimers cough
up my share of Mexico an' the Rocky Mountains an' Alaska.

"But to get down to cases, as the preachers says: Old Andy he don't
cantankerate none noticeable. When he feels needful of a jamboree he
goes down to the bank an' fills his pockets an' a couple of valises with
change, an' gum-shoes down to John D. Swab's, an' they hunt up Charley
Carnage an' a couple of senators an' a rack of chips an' they finds 'em a
back room, pulls off their collars an' coats an' goes to it. They ain't
no kitty only to cover the needful expenses of drinks, eats, an'
smokes--an' everything goes, from cold-decks to second-dealin'. Then
when they've derove recreation enough, on goes their collars an' coats,
an' they eat a handful of cloves an' get to work on the public again.
They's a lot of money changes hands in these here sessions but it never
gets out of the gang, an' after you get their brands you c'n generally
always tell who got gouged by noticin' what goes up. If coal oil hists a
couple of cents on the gallon you know Andy carried his valises home
empty an' if railroad rates jumps--the senators got nicked a little, an'
vicy versy. Now you an' me ain't captains of industry, nor nothin' else
but our own soul, as the piece goes, but 'tain't no harm we should try a
law-abidin' recreation, same as these others, an' mebbe after some
practice we'll get to where the Guggenhimers will be figgerin' how to get
the western hemisphere of North America back from us.

"It's like this. Me an' you'll stop in an' get us a couple of drinks.
Then we'll hunt us up a hash-house an' put a big bate of ham an' aigs out
of circulation, an' go get us a couple more drinks, an' heel ourselves
with a deck of cards an' a couple bottles of cactus juice, an' hunt us up
a place where we'll be ondisturbed by the riotorious carryin's-on of the
frivolous-minded, an' we'll have us a two-handed poker game which no
matter who wins we can't lose, like I was tellin' you, 'cause they can't
no outside parties horn in on the profits. But first-off we'll hunt up a
feed barn so Ace of Spades can load up on oats an' hay while we're havin'
our party."

An hour later the Texan deposited a quart bottle, a rack of chips, and a
deck of cards on a little deal table in the dingy back room of a saloon