The man grasped her by an arm.
“Won’t take that for an answer,” he said. “Let’s be on our way, sister.”
“If I was your sister, I’d teach you a few things,” she said.
She broke away from him and hurried through the crowd. Thubway Tham grinned. He of the flashy clothes turned and saw the grin.
“Lost out that time,” he announced. “Must have been waiting for her steady, what? Very few girls refuse to help spend a roll.”
“Got a roll, have you?” Tham asked without apparent interest.
“I’m rotten with the stuff,” the other confided. “Decided I’d have a whale of a time today. Don’t seem to be making much progress.”
“You’d better not carry that wallet in your hip pocket,” Tham told him. “That ith the plathe that ith the delight of all pickpocketh. The firtht thing you know, you’ll be minuth thome coin.”
“Pickpockets? You cause me merriment,” the other said.
“Tho?”
“You do. That’s an old gag that a man can take a wallet from another man’s hip pocket without the owner of the wallet being wise to it. I’d have to be asleep or drunk before a man could hand me a deal like that.”
“Think it ith difficult?” Tham asked.
“With me it would be, all right, I’m no more afraid of pickpockets than I am that the Dead Sea will come over here and wash this shore. Pickpockets go after the man who chews a straw, and that’s all. They have better sense than try to rob a wise guy.”
“Ith that tho? Theemth to me that I heard not very long ago that a thertain withe guy wath touched for hith roll.”
“Probably preoccupied,” said the other. “Had his mind on his job, or something like that.”
Thubway Tham gulped. More than anything else, he wanted to teach this arrogant, all-knowing one a lesson. But he had promised! He felt Temptation tugging at his elbow.
Turning abruptly away, Tham walked toward the water again and leaned against a railing to observe the bathers. In an hour or so he would eat, he decided. He would remain for the fireworks in the evening and go home, tired and happy, with the last crowds.
Temptation, standing beside him, began to point out loot. Within the half hour Thubway Tham saw no less than half a dozen prospective victims. There was a fat man whose wallet showed plainly in a hip pocket. There was a man who stuffed a roll of bills into a waistcoat pocket while Thubway Tham watched him. Another glanced at a watch that was studded with jewels and slipped it back into his pocket carelessly. Thubway Tham knew that it would be child’s play for him to get that watch.
He left the beach and journeyed on, almost sorry that he had made a promise to himself and Detective Craddock. And then he met Craddock face to face.
“Well, well!” the detective said. “Having a good time, Tham?”
“Yeth, thir.”
“Been behaving yourself?”
“I gave you my promithe.”
“I beg your pardon, Tham. I should think it would make you nervous to be around this crowd. There are so many careless persons in it.”
“And that ith the truth.”
“Been observing some of them, have you?”
“Ath if a man could help it!” Thubway Tham declared. “But a promithe ith a promithe. You havin’ a good time?”
“On special duty,” Craddock replied. “Couldn’t even bring the wife and kiddies along. Watching for dips.”
“Yeth?”
“Yes. And there have been some at work, too; take it from me. Complaints have been coming in by the score.”
“If you think that I—”
“I don’t!” Craddock interrupted, “If this was the subway, now, I might think differently.”
“You are goin’ to keep talkin’ until you thpoil my Gloriouth Fourth thelebration,” Tham complained. “Ain’t you got any thenthe? Want to talk thop all the time?”
“I humbly beg your pardon, Tham, and will hie me on my way,” Detective Craddock returned.
He was as good as his promise, and Temptation, having been lurking in the background while Tham talked to Craddock, came forward again and once more touched Tham’s elbow.
Thubway Tham beheld in front of him an obese gentleman who radiated prosperity. He seemed to be in charge of two young women who called him uncle. Tham thought it was a very pleasant family party at first, until he heard the obese gentleman talk.
“Go as far as you like!” he told his nieces. “Uncle cleaned up a nice little pile last week. Uncle caught ’em when they were going down, and bought and held ’em until they went up, thereby stinging a few financial enemies. Uncle has the goods. Go as far as you like in this simple-minded merry-making.”
Tham chuckled to himself. Uncle continued his conversation, and the tune of it was business and yet more business, and money-making, and gouging financial opponents. Tham began to feel a sort of rage, especially when one of the pretty nieces asked her uncle to drop his business talk, at least for the remainder of the Fourth.
“The thimp ith long on coin and thort on brainth,” Tham mused. “He ith the kind of man I like to touch for hith roll. If thith wath not the Gloriouth Fourth—”
Thubway Tham turned away, but Temptation remained at his heels.
Before the end of another hour the perspiration was standing out on Tham’s forehead. Never before, in a single day, had Thubway Tham seen so many opportunities for success in his own particular line. It grew to be an agony to him.
He returned to the pavilion and watched the maze of dancers, wishing for the moment that he was younger, and not a crook, and had a pretty girl, and could dance. Tham began feeling lonely. He wished that he had somebody to help him celebrate. He had not asked any of his underworld friends to accompany him, fearing they would laugh at him.
Out in the crowd again, he found himself attracted to a boy about eight years of age. The youngster grinned at him and announced that he was lost. Tham adopted him.
“We will jutht drift along with the crowd, and maybe you will thee your folkth,” Thubway Tham said. “And, meanwhile, you will be my guetht. Thee?”
The idea tickled Thubway Tham. He prowled through the crowd, holding the youngster by one hand. He bought the boy ice cream and soda and popcorn, took him for a ride on the merry-go-round, and treated him to any amusement he showed an interest in.
Craddock came across him again.
“What’s the big idea? Turning family man?” the detective asked.
“Thith boy ith lotht, and we are tryin’ to find hith folkth,” Tham explained. “And I am fillin’ him up on popcorn and peanutth.”
Craddock slapped Tham on the back. He had three youngsters at home.
“Good boy!” he exclaimed. “Tham, you’re too good to be a dip. Why don’t you get a decent job and quit the crook game?”
“Ith that any way to talk?” Tham demanded, glancing down at the boy. “On your way, Craddock. You are the biggetht petht in thith man’th town!”
Ten minutes later a semi-hysterical woman descended upon Thubway Tham and the boy, grasped the latter in her arms, and glared at the former.
“He wath lotht and I found him,” Tham explained. “We have been thelebratin’ the Gloriouth Fourth. Maybe I fed him too much ithe cream, I dunno. But it hath been a pleathure.”
He hurried away before the woman could pour forth her thanks. He went down to the beach again and sat down.
“Craddock ith an ath!” he declared. “I tried to be thraight onthe, and everybody bunkoed me. But I with I did have a boy like that, jutht to buy popcorn for.”
Thubway Tham propped himself comfortably against a box that happened to be near, pulled his hat down over his eyes, and gave himself up to thought. It was growing dark now, and Coney Island had flashed forth in all its splendor. Thubway Tham felt lonesome. He wished for bosom friends. He had done his best to enjoy a day of celebration and had been on his good behavior, and he felt that it had netted him little.
“I’ll be moanin’ in a minute,” he told himself. “There thould not be holidayth for a man like me.”
The darkness came, and the fireworks began. Thubway Tham forgot his momentary lonesomeness and enjoyed the spectacle. He listened to the band again, and watched the dancers, and saw the families starting for their homes, tired but happy, the children who remained awake talking of the wonders of the day. There seemed to be half a million babies sleeping in mothers’ arms.
Tham had eaten dinner and had partaken of refreshments until he wished for no more. There seemed to be nothing left to do except go home. At that hour of the night Coney Island was no place for a man without a friend.
So Thubway Tham decided to return to Manhattan and seek his bed. He half wished that he had not promised himself and Craddock to be on his good behavior. It might liven things up if he could “lift a leather.”
III.
On his way to the city Thubway Tham slumbered a bit. He was thinking deeply of unusual things. He had obtained a seat, and the aisle was jammed with humanity. Now and then this mass of persons surged this way and that as some got off or more got on.
Thubway Tham heard a well-remembered voice, came to himself, and looked up. He of the flashy clothes was standing in the aisle, trying to make the acquaintance of two girls.
“The ath!” Tham muttered.
He heard another voice, and saw the uncle and the two nieces. Temptation was present again to Thubway Tham.
At Brooklyn Bridge Tham left the elevated train with the crowd and walked down to the subway entrance. He was chagrined to find that the two men did the same. Tham felt his anger growing. Was it not possible for a man to be honest for a day? Were wallets to be flaunted continually in the face of a professional pickpocket on a day when he had sworn to keep his hands to himself?
Tham boarded an uptown subway train, and so did the other men. The grip of Temptation was tightening on Thubway Tham. Something seemed to tell him that he should take the wallet of the flashily dressed man who had boasted that such a thing could not be done, and of the obese individual who talked of business and money while on a holiday with two pretty nieces.
“A pair of atheth!” Tham said, and moved closer to them.
Habit, environment, his own skill, all affected him. He inspected the persons in the car and could see no officer of the law he knew. He fought to resist Temptation, but felt himself growing weaker.
Thubway Tham passed the station where he should have left the car. It seemed that he could not take his eyes off the two men, who stood not far apart. Something seemed to be pulling him toward them. Nervously wetting his lips Thubway Tham glanced around again. Craddock was almost at his elbow. “Great day, eh?” the detective asked.
“Thome thelebration!” Tham admitted, glad for once that Craddock was at hand. “And thome tired crowd!”
“I’m tired myself,” Craddock admitted. “I’ll get a day off tomorrow for this.”
“Yeth?”
“Yes. You’ve been taking a day off today, I understand.”
Craddock eyed him narrowly.
“Thertainly!” said Tham. “I thaid I would do it, and I did.”
“I’m never quite sure about you, Tham.”
Thubway Tham felt enraged. After all the fat wallets he had passed by, to have Detective Craddock talk like that! His face flushed, and he gasped.
“Nobody but a thimp of a detective,” he said, “would doubt the word of a gentleman.”
“So?”
“Tho! You make me thick, Craddock! There ith a head of cabbage where your brainth thould be.”
“Yes?”
“Yeth! If you are a thample of what ith on the polithe forthe, no wonder there are tho many crookth in thith man’th town! You are an invitation to every crook in the world!”
“Don’t let it worry you, Tham,” Craddock said. “And don’t get so touchy just because I intimated that you might have broken your word. Words have been broken before now. And you’re riding pretty far uptown, aren’t you?”
“I am,” said Thubway Tham. “But I am goin’ to get off at Twenty-third Threet and walk back. The air ith nithe and cool.”
Craddock turned to speak to another acquaintance, and Thubway Tham glared at the back of his head. His day had been spoiled. He had promised to do right on the Glorious Fourth, and he had kept his word. And what had been his reward? Wallets had been flaunted in his face; he had seen a score of excellent watches that could have been had for the taking; and now Detective Craddock intimated that Thubway Tham might not have kept his word after all. Rage seethed within him.
In a minute Craddock left the train. Thubway Tham rode on uptown.
He pressed nearer the two men he had been watching. He of the flashy clothes was engaged in conversation with the obese individual now, no doubt hoping to get an introduction to the two nieces.
“Great crowd, and great day!” he was saying. “Met one freak, though-funny little fellow who told me to watch out for pickpockets. What do you think of that?”
“Wherever there is a crowd you’ll find some fellows who are afraid of pickpockets,” the uncle replied. “I’d like to see one get my wallet!”
“Here, too! A man must be asleep to be robbed like that. These pickpockets with wonderful skill are found only in fiction.”
Thubway Tham gnashed his teeth. He had forgotten his promises now; Temptation had won a victory. He pressed still closer and considered the possibilities.
Usually, Thubway Tham picked a pocket just as a station was reached and then stepped out of the train and hurried through the crowd. That made his work considerably safer. But here were two victims, and Tham disliked to commit double robberies. However, such remarks were not to be allowed to pass without punishment.
“The thilly thimpth!” Tham told himself. “It would be a crime to let them get away without bein’ touched.”
Tham decided to run the risk. He lurched against the obese individual at the right moment; his left hand darted down, and he became the possessor of uncle’s wallet without the slightest trouble. Then he edged to the rear of the flashily dressed man. The train was nearing the station at Twenty-third Street.
Again Tham lurched forward, and the wallet of the flashily dressed person went into Tham’s pocket. The doors slid open, and Tham stepped out onto the platform and then hurried up to the street. He emptied the wallets as quickly as possible and got rid of everything except the currency they had contained. So! Boasters are always punished, Tham thought.
Then he felt a tag at the tail of his coat. For an instant he was panic-stricken. Had his crime been observed? A vision of the big prison up the river flashed before him as he turned.
Before him stood the youngster he had entertained at Coney Island, and his smiling mother was behind him.
“Here he ith,” the boy said.
“Well, did you have a good time?” Thubway Tham demanded. “Have a really Gloriouth Fourth?”
“Yes, t’ank you.”
“Glad you did,” said Thubway Tham, “When I wath a little boy, I never had many pleathant holidayth. Be a good boy and alwayth mind your mother, and then you’ll be a good man.”
“Yes, thir,” the boy said. “You ith a good man, ain’t you?”
Tham laughed and turned away. But that last remark of the boy’s had struck home. Who was he to preach to a youngster? Why, he hadn’t even kept his promise to himself and to Craddock. He had lifted two wallets just because he could not conquer anger and temptation!
“I am a crooked crook!” Thubway Tham told himself. “I am not even a dethent crook. It would therve me right if Craddock took me in, if he caught me with the goodth. And me talkin’ to that little boy!”
Tham felt self-abasement for the first time in years.
“I thaid I would not thteal a thing on the Gloriouth Fourth, and I broke my word!” he mumbled. “I am a thcoundrel!”
He removed his cap and scratched at hi
s head. He felt very miserable about it. Breaking faith with Craddock was bad enough, but he had also broken faith with himself. That was worse.
“If a man can’t even trutht himthelf, he ith in a bad way,” Tham declared.
Then he glanced up at the clock on the big tower, preparatory to walking downtown in the cool air. The hands of the clock showed half an hour after midnight, exactly. Tham’s face glowed; his eyes sparkled; and his heart was happy.
“I didn’t break any promithe, either!” Tham told himself. “It wath not more than fifteen minuteth ago that I took thothe walletth. It wath on the fifth and not on the Gloriouth Fourth!”
As if that fact made a great difference in the quality of his crime, Thubway Tham began whistling a lively air as he walked briskly toward the southern end of Manhattan Island.
THUBWAY THAM’S HOLDUP
Of course, and naturally, Thubway Tham had a multitude of acquaintances among those of the underworld. For the underworld of a city is a big family, like a circus, though there are many subdivisions. It is an ordinary thing for those In the same line of work to club together—burglars with burglars, pickpockets with pickpockets, second-story men with other second-story men, and so on.
Thubway Tham was different in some things, however. He was a sort of acknowledged leader among the pickpockets, a past master, a man who was important enough to have his certain district and to command there. He worked only in the subway during rush hours, and others of his ilk refrained from plying their nefarious profession there. And so Thubway Tham to a certain extent felt called upon to treat other dips as inferiors. He was gentle with them when he met them, but he always gave the impression that they were semiprofessionals at best.
Being a king of a certain branch of the underworld, in a manner of speaking, Thubway Tham now and then indulged in conversation with other royalty. Thus it happened that, on a certain day, he spent some time in talk with one “Shifty” Shane, a well-known holdup man.
Shifty Shane was an acknowledged king himself. Many a gentleman who had been relieved of roll and watch at the point of a gun had been honored with the attention of Shifty Shane, though he did not know it. Certain police officers suspected things regarding Shifty Shane, but seemed powerless to catch him “with the goods.” Shifty Shane had been arrested on suspicion so many times, and always had walked forth a free man, that he had begun to look upon such a thing as a part of his regular existence.
The Thubway Tham Megapack Page 28
