"Toby, darling," she says, "it is nobody but Deborah who loves you dearly, and who always knows you will turn out to be the greatest gunman of them all. Look at me, Toby," she says, "and tell me you love me, too. We never realize what a hero you are until we get the New York papers in Erasmus last night, and I hurry to you as quickly as possible. Kiss me, Toby"

Tobias raises up on one elbow and does same, and it makes a very pleasing scene, indeed, although the gendarmes try to pull them apart.

Now Judge Rascover is watching all this business through his specs, and Judge Rascover is no sucker, but a pretty slick old codger for a judge, and he can see that there is something wrong somewhere about Tobias Tweeney being a character as desperate as the gendarmes make him out.

So when the gendarmes pick the fat young doll off of Tobias and take a few pounds of rods off of Tobias, too, so he is finally able to get back on his pins and stand there, Judge Rascover adjourns court, and takes Tobias into his private room and has a talk with him, and the chances are Tobias tells him the truth, for the next thing anybody knows Tobias is walking away as free as the little birdies in the trees, except that he has the fat young doll clinging to him like a porous plaster.

Well, this is about all there is to the story, except that there is afterward plenty of heat between the parties who are present in Good Time Charley's joint when Tobias is collared, because it seems that the meeting they all attend before going to Charley's is supposed to be a peace meeting and nobody is supposed to carry any rods to this meeting just to prove their confidence in each other, so it comes out that nobody has any confidence in anybody else at the meeting.

I never hear of Tobias Tweeney but once after all this, and it is some months afterward when Joey Uptown and Little Mitzi are over in Pennsylvania near the town that is called Erasmus, they decide it will be a nice thing to drop in on Tobias Tweeney and see how he is getting along.

Well, it seems Tobias is all married up to Miss Deborah Weems, and is getting along first class, as it seems the town elects him constable, because it feels that a guy with such a desperate reputation as Tobias Tweeney's is bound to make wrongdoers keep away from Erasmus if he is an officer of the law, and Tobias's first official act is to chase Joe Trivett out of town.

СЛОВАРИК

entries for the next day список участников скачек или бегов

a tough day at the track здесь неудачный день на скачках (с большим проигрышем)

a dime's worth of liver здесь совсем тощий (дословно: весом не более куска печени на десять центов)

to cry something out of a lamppost здесь бесполезно (дословно: выплакать у фонарного столба

pally здесь приятель, паренёк

more than somewhat здесь очень сильно, интенсивно

daffyздесь сумасшедший, безумный

snoot нос

nine to nought здесь девять к нулю

underworld здесь мир гангстеров

a tough joint здесь место, где собираются гангстеры

to steer a little trade his way здесь направить человека с деньгами в его бар

a quiet gander здесь осторожно смотрит через «глазок»

Someone must tip him off здесь кто–то ему «стуканул»; кто–то слил ему информацию

villain злодей

gendarmes здесь полицейские

ВОПРОСЫ И ЗАДАНИЯ

How does the story begin?

What was interesting about Tobias?

What was Tobias’ story?

Where did the story teller and Tobias go?

What happened at that place?

How does the story end?

(5571 words)

One evening about seven o'clock I am sitting in Mindy's restaurant putting on the