Children of the Whirlwind

corner and swung up the narrow street toward the pawnshop. He halted and peered in before

ew York; they had nothing on him, he had settled accounts by having done his bit. All the same, he preferred not to meet Casey just then. So he went down the street, crossed the cobbled plaza along the water-front, and slipped through the darkness among the trucks out to

of mouth, and such had always been offensive to him. And though he had ever looked the gentleman, he had known that the New York Athletic Club and other similar clubs were not for him; they pried a bit too much into a candidate's social and professional standing. So he had turned to a club where really searching inquiries were rarely made; for years he had belonged to a branch of the Y.M.C.A. located just off Broadway, and had pla

during the greater part of his stay at Sing Sing; better that than working in the knitt

practices of brokers, his high spirits, his instinct for pleasure, his desire for big winnings-these had swept him into a wild crowd before he had been old enough to take himself seriously, and had started him upon a brilliant career of adventures and unlawful money-making in whose excitement there had been no let-up until his arrest. He had never

all been out to secure unlawful gain and to take cunning advantage of his supposedly foolish self and of other dupes. He had been too clever for them, that was all; in desire and intent they had been as great cheats as himself. So he fe

roaching through the darkness. Larry paused. The man drew near and halted exactly in front of Larry

, Brainard?" The voice w

," Larry replied coolly. "And wha

ord with you. I've been right behi

u and Casey. But you hav

n!-now that I know you are the main guy of a clever outfit. You'll be starting some smooth game-but

vegan, I don't see how Casey stands you as a partner. And, Gavegan, I don't see why the Boar

king over Larry. "You think you are such a damned smart talker and such a

forget the time he and Gavegan, he handcuffed, had been locked in a sound-proof cell, and Gavegan had given him the third degree-in this case a length of heavy rubber hose, applied

take that bet-any figure you like. I've already got a new game c

you!" Gavegan

at was a slip and police stools got me. All by yourself, Gavegan, you couldn't get anything. Your brain's got flat tires, and its motor doesn't fire

y swayed slightly aside, and as Gavegan lunged by, Larry's right fist drove into Gavegan's chin-drove with all the

went dow

ade his way off the pier and again to the door of the pawnshop. Case

nd entered. "Hello, Isa

at is also reputed to be a fence, to show surprise or curiosity.

hop. It was common enough for his grandmother to rent out the third floor; but to a painter, and a craz

door. A big male vo

, Maggie, and s

, and in surprise gazed at the flushed, gleaming Maggie

e exclaimed, hol

ar

ds. The clothes given him on leaving prison were of course atrocious, but in all else he measured up to her dreams:

n up, Maggie!" he

ad to do for two y

Larry," sai

t grace as he had to pass in front o

out his hand, the left one, and she took it in a mummified claw. In all his life he

." She dropped his hand.

g eyes could be sharp; they were penetra

, again the left. "And

esponded Hunt, "but none of

re was a smiling audacity in his face that it would have been hard to have taken offense

ggie, "I don't see how yo

with the contrast between Larry's face and his shriveled, hook-

o her rescue with almo

g at the miscellany of dishes

Hunt. "You're th

right hand from his coat pocket, where it had been all this while, and started to unwin

rt much?" Maggie

nned my k

ow

while he was trying to make hypnotic passes at

ung man, you're off to a grand start-a charge of assaul

tment. Put a fine crimp in his reputation, wouldn't it, if he admitted in public that he'd been knocked out by a fellow, bare-handed, suppo

ngs in some other

ry responded carelessly. "

ll engaged in getting the dinner upon the table. Additional help would only be interference,

its sort in the neighborhood. Old Isaac downstairs told me you were crazy-sa

what they say

g to his side. "Father thinks they are jokes, and fathe

and have a good la

nd Hunt regarded him with a sidelong gaze. But Larry did not laugh. He silently returned the picture, and then examined the portrait of Old Jimmie-then o

icion. That moment one could understand why he was sometimes called "Terrible

down here, Hunt?"

d the big painter.

n here posing as a boob

wrong wi

e not crazy daubs. T

Maggie stared in bewil

about pictures? Old Jimmie, who's said to be a

said it's good," Larry returned. "I studied at the Academy of Design f

hink mine

original. But they're great. And you'

nthusiastic arm about Larry, and began

. "Cut that out. Then you a

er!" shouted Hunt. "Who shou

g down here? What's the game you'

g you just now with a lot of details about myself. It's enough to say that people wouldn't pay me except when I did the usual pretty rot; no one believed in the other stuff

se as a dub

good reason that if I had, and had been believed, the people who posed for me either wouldn't have done it or would have been so self-conscious that they would have tried

red by this new light in which Hunt was presented, an

know about the rest of your make-up," he sai

ut in the dry, unemotional voice of t

ok a crook fresh from Sing Sing to discover me as a great artist! You're clever, Larry-clever! Maggie, get