Children of the Whirlwind [15]
Salvation Army talk!"
Maggie did not at once respond, but stood gazing at the two confronting figures. To her they were an oddly dissimilar pair: Barney in the smartest clothes that an over-smart Broadway tailor could create, and Larry in the shapeless garments that were the State's gift to him on leaving prison.
"Maggie," he repeated, "don't you listen to this boob's talk!"
"I'll do just as I please, Barney."
"But you're going to come our way?" he demanded.
"Of course."
He turned back to Larry. "You hear that? You leave Maggie alone!"
Larry did not answer, though his temper was rising. He looked over Barney's head at Maggie's father.
"Jimmie," he remarked in his same even voice, "anything more you'd like to say?"
"I'm through."
"Then," said Larry, "better lead your new commander-in-chief out of here, or I'll carry him out and spank him."
"What's that?" snarled Barney.
"Get out!" Larry ordered, in a voice suddenly like steel.
Barney's fist swung viciously at Larry's head. It did not land, because Larry's head was elsewhere. Larry did not take advantage of the opening to strike back, but as the fist flashed by he seized the wrist, and in the same instant he seized the other wrist. The next moment he held Barney helpless in a twisting, torturing grip that he had learned from one of his non-Christian friends at the Y.M.C.A.
"Barney--are you going to walk out, or shall I kick you out?"
Barney's answer came after a moment through gritted teeth: "I'll walk out--but I'll get you for this!"
"I know you'll try, Barney. And I know you'll try to get me behind my back." Larry loosed his grip. "Good-night."
Barney backed glowering to the door; and Old Jimmie, his gray face an expressionless mask, silently followed him out.
All this while the Duchess had looked on, motionless in her corner, a dingy, forgotten part of the dingy background--no more noticeable than one of her own dusty, bizarre pledges.
CHAPTER VI
For a moment after the door had closed upon Barney and Old Jimmie, Larry stood gazing at it. Then he turned to Maggie.
She was standing slenderly upright. Her head was imperiously high, her black eyes defiant. Neither spoke at once. More than before was he impressed by her present and her potential beauty. Till this night he had thought of her only casually, as merely a young girl; he was not now consciously in love with her--her young woman-hood had burst upon him too suddenly for such a consciousness--but a warm tingling went through him as he gazed at her imperious, self-confident youth. Part of his mind was thinking much the same thought that Hunt had considered a few hours earlier: here were the makings of a magnificent adventuress.
"Maggie," he mused, "you didn't get your looks from your father. You must have had a fine-looking mother."
"I don't know--I never saw her," she returned shortly.
"Poor kid," Larry mused on--"and with only Old Jimmie for a father." She did not know what to say. For a long time she had dreamed of this man as her hero; she had dreamed of splendid adventures with him in which she should win his praise. And now--and now--
He switched to another subject.
"So you have decided to string along with your father and Barney?"
"I have."
"Don't you do it, Maggie."
"Don't you preach, Larry."
"I'm not preaching. I'm just talking business to you. The same as I talked business to myself. The crooked game is a poor business for a woman who can do something else--and you can do something else. I've known a lot of women in the crooked game. They've all had a rotten finish, or are headed for one. So forget it, Maggie. There's more in the straight game."
She had swiftly come to feel herself stronger and wiser than her ex- hero. In her tremendous pride and confidence of eighteen, she regarded him almost with pitying condescension.
"Something's softened your brain, Larry. I know better. The people who pretend to go straight are just fakes; they're playing a different kind of a smooth game, that's all. Everybody is out
Maggie did not at once respond, but stood gazing at the two confronting figures. To her they were an oddly dissimilar pair: Barney in the smartest clothes that an over-smart Broadway tailor could create, and Larry in the shapeless garments that were the State's gift to him on leaving prison.
"Maggie," he repeated, "don't you listen to this boob's talk!"
"I'll do just as I please, Barney."
"But you're going to come our way?" he demanded.
"Of course."
He turned back to Larry. "You hear that? You leave Maggie alone!"
Larry did not answer, though his temper was rising. He looked over Barney's head at Maggie's father.
"Jimmie," he remarked in his same even voice, "anything more you'd like to say?"
"I'm through."
"Then," said Larry, "better lead your new commander-in-chief out of here, or I'll carry him out and spank him."
"What's that?" snarled Barney.
"Get out!" Larry ordered, in a voice suddenly like steel.
Barney's fist swung viciously at Larry's head. It did not land, because Larry's head was elsewhere. Larry did not take advantage of the opening to strike back, but as the fist flashed by he seized the wrist, and in the same instant he seized the other wrist. The next moment he held Barney helpless in a twisting, torturing grip that he had learned from one of his non-Christian friends at the Y.M.C.A.
"Barney--are you going to walk out, or shall I kick you out?"
Barney's answer came after a moment through gritted teeth: "I'll walk out--but I'll get you for this!"
"I know you'll try, Barney. And I know you'll try to get me behind my back." Larry loosed his grip. "Good-night."
Barney backed glowering to the door; and Old Jimmie, his gray face an expressionless mask, silently followed him out.
All this while the Duchess had looked on, motionless in her corner, a dingy, forgotten part of the dingy background--no more noticeable than one of her own dusty, bizarre pledges.
CHAPTER VI
For a moment after the door had closed upon Barney and Old Jimmie, Larry stood gazing at it. Then he turned to Maggie.
She was standing slenderly upright. Her head was imperiously high, her black eyes defiant. Neither spoke at once. More than before was he impressed by her present and her potential beauty. Till this night he had thought of her only casually, as merely a young girl; he was not now consciously in love with her--her young woman-hood had burst upon him too suddenly for such a consciousness--but a warm tingling went through him as he gazed at her imperious, self-confident youth. Part of his mind was thinking much the same thought that Hunt had considered a few hours earlier: here were the makings of a magnificent adventuress.
"Maggie," he mused, "you didn't get your looks from your father. You must have had a fine-looking mother."
"I don't know--I never saw her," she returned shortly.
"Poor kid," Larry mused on--"and with only Old Jimmie for a father." She did not know what to say. For a long time she had dreamed of this man as her hero; she had dreamed of splendid adventures with him in which she should win his praise. And now--and now--
He switched to another subject.
"So you have decided to string along with your father and Barney?"
"I have."
"Don't you do it, Maggie."
"Don't you preach, Larry."
"I'm not preaching. I'm just talking business to you. The same as I talked business to myself. The crooked game is a poor business for a woman who can do something else--and you can do something else. I've known a lot of women in the crooked game. They've all had a rotten finish, or are headed for one. So forget it, Maggie. There's more in the straight game."
She had swiftly come to feel herself stronger and wiser than her ex- hero. In her tremendous pride and confidence of eighteen, she regarded him almost with pitying condescension.
"Something's softened your brain, Larry. I know better. The people who pretend to go straight are just fakes; they're playing a different kind of a smooth game, that's all. Everybody is out