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Show H HIS MASCOT H v By Harry B. Kennon. OBLIVIOUS to the stench of stale tobacco fumes, mingled with effluvia of many liquors H and liquorish breathings, that would have nauseat- H ed him at any other time but this the climax of his H affairs, Frank Ferguson, cashier of the Penny Sav- H ings, stuck to the game. Winner at first, he had H latterly been losing at every turn of the wheel, H and his straight run of hard luck, coupled with H his plucky venturing to recoup, held the attention H of tho motley gang of which he was part. He H cared nothing for the crowd, arguing himself un- H known to those among whom he would never M appear again; nothing for the place, an obscure M hell, notorious to complacency of the police and H to the shady clientele as a room of high and 8 dangerous play. "What he did care for, with a de- H faulter's desperation, was the chance of money m gained by ' staying in." Ho cared for that al- fl mightily. M "Fetch a drink," ho jerked over his shoulder M "brandy!" M Then he turned his eyes back to the table to M see his money vanish. Once more he resolved to H stake. "If he lost? why then ." He put the M "then" aside and drew a thin packet of new bills H from his vest pocket. As he did so, a coal black M hand passed him his brandy. The powerful ne- m gro, a "bouncer," Ferguson mistakenly supposed, H grinned at him while he drank; and over the rim H of the "pony" Ferguson noticed that one of the M black's shoulders was higher than the other. H "Hump-back coon for luck!" flashed through H the gambler's brain. He reached out the hand H that held the bills and stroked the negro's de- B formity. Tho crowd laughed its more or less M drunken appreciation of the joke. h The insulted man drew back and cursed him. Htj - "You damned nigger! Ah! You would, would Hjj you!" exclaimed Ferguson, as the negro struck Hi out at him, his good natured grin transformed to 1 a snarl of hatred. m, , "Aw, chuck the coon! G'wan wid de game!' i clamored the crowd. ' The negro was hustled out, the crowd settleu H! down, and Ferguson only thought of the "mas- H cot" as bringing him luck. For he won and won, Hi not only recovering his losses, but gaining suffi- H ciently more to margin certain irregularities, his Hi crudest name for criminal borrowings. At three H in the morning he called up a cab and left, carry- H ing gains and gefbd spirits for company. M H Ferguson was clear headed enough, controlled H anxiety had attended to that, but he had the HI brains to know that clarity of thinking begotten H of brandy he had Imbibed more than one "pony" B would not last, and that his desk at the bank H would find him fatwitted for his peculiarly care- H ful work of the morning unless he took preven- H tive -measures. He had "himself driven to his H Turkish bath, deserted at that hour but for H iMiko.'lthe custodian, and a few sleepdrs dead to H the world. Mike recognized him immediately H with, a jliscreet smile of surprise, but Mike had B V'' been too long on the job to be staggered by untimely un-timely invasions of patrons, however respectable. "Charley about?" asked Ferguson, demanding his accustomed rubber. "Charley's off this two hours," answered Mike. 'Then give me tho best you've got." "Sam's comin' on. He's in the locker now." "Who's Sam Any good?" "Extra night man. First-rate." "All right; I'll peel and Mikq" "Yis sor." "I'm staying the rest of the night. Don't havt me called until eight fifteen. Not later, mind. Due at the bank at nine thirty. Coffee, of course." "I'll tell Sam. Go off watch when he shows up." "For how long?" "Nine o'clock, sor. Charley comes on at six. "Make it back an hour earlier, will you? and buy me a shirt. What 15 cuffs attached and a collar, like this." "Sure," assented Mike, scenting his tip. "Any valuables, sor?" "None to mention," Ferguson yawned. "Won't trouble to deposit. Room G's safe enough." Ferguson finished stripping, locked the door of his room, gartered the key around his wrist by its rubber band, and was assisted by Mike, wholly disregardful of his unsteadiness, to the hot room. Mike brought a cold sponge for liis head and disappeared. Brnady and the high temperature tempera-ture became so overpowering that he sought the shampoo to avoid syncope. A slab all prepared for a bather invited; he sat on it, mind muddled, then stretched himself full length, face down to avoid the one electric light, and fell fast asleep. He was hrought back to semi-consciousness by having the rubber band slipped off his wrist. Drowsily turning his head he saw the bare black arm of his rubber as he placed the key on its hook. "Oh! its you, is it?" 'Yes, sah." "Well, get going." The tepid water soothed Ferguson into a pleasant pleas-ant slumber which the gentle and firm manipulations manipu-lations of the rubber in no-way disturbed. His next return to the world of things came with the words: "Turn ovah, sah." Too languid for any effort he allowed the man to shift him over on to his back. He never opened his eyes. But as the strong, smooth hands slipped up towards his throat and tightened there, as the iron fingers clenched, Ferguson awakened to the fearful fact that his mascot held him in the grip of death. Neither man uttered a word, Ferguson could not. The fiend slowly and surely strangled the life out of him. Then he reached up for the key, grunted, and disappeared. From what pursuit? Frank Ferguson was not all that was strangled not by any means. The verdict brought in was heartf allure; tho reputation reputa-tion of the Turkish bath was saved Mike knew his business. The directors of the Penny Savings passed resolutions to the memory of their dead cashier. If the word "Hush" appears between the lines of those resolutions, neither the public nor lerguson's family, who tieasuro them, are conscious con-scious of it. The Penny Savings Is a going institution, insti-tution, capital unimpaired. Hush! Ferguson's mascot had brought to his victim better luck than either would ever know. "Humpbacked "Hump-backed coon for luck! Hush!" |