City Crimes by Greenhorn

perfect stranger to the others present, and had not participated in their previous conversation, nor been personally addressed by any of them.
    Bloody Mike, the landlord, deeming this a fit opportunity for the exercise of his authority, growled out, in a ferocious tone--
    'And who the devil may ye be, that makes such a bobbaboo about a letter that a
kinchen
stales from a lady's work bag? Spake, ye blasted scoundrel; or wid my first, (and it's no small one) I'll let daylight thro' yer skull! And be what right do ye snatch the letter from Ragged Pete? Answer me
that
ye devil's pup!'
    All present regarded the formidable Irishman with awe, excepting the stranger, who gazed at him in contemptuous silence. This enraged the landlord still more, and he cried out--
    'Bad luck to ye, who are ye, at all at all? Ye're a stranger to all of us--ye haven't spint a pinney for the good of the house, for all ye've been toasting yer shins furnist the fire for two hours or more! Who knows but ye're a police spy, an officer in disguise, or--'
    'Oh,
slash yer gammon
, Bloody Mike,' exclaimed the stranger, speaking with a coarse, vulgar accent--'I know you well enough, tho' you don't remember
me
. Police spy, hey? Why, I've just come out of
quod
myself, d'y see--and I've got
tin
enough to stand the rum for the whole party. So call up, fellers--what'll ye all have to drink?'
    It is impossible to describe the effect of these words on everybody present. Bloody Mike swore that the stranger was a 'rare gentleman', and asked his pardon; Ragged Pete grasped his hand in a transport of friendship; the young thief declared he was 'one of the b'hoys from home;' the negro and the prostitute crawled from under the table, and thanked him with hoarse and drunken voices; the vagabond and well-dressed man on the table, both rolled off, and 'called on.' And the stranger threw upon the counter a handful of silver, and bade them 'drink it up.'
    Such a scene followed! Half pints of 'blue ruin' were dispensed to the thirsty throng, and in a short time all, with two or three exceptions, were extremely drunk. The negro and the prostitute resumed their places under the table; the well-dressed man and his ragged companion stretched themselves upon their former hard couch; and Ragged Pete ensconced himself in the fireplace, with his head buried in the ashes and his heels up the chimney, in which comfortable position he vainly essay'd to sing a sentimental song, wherein he [
illegible word
] to deplore the loss of his 'own true love.' (The only sober persons were the stranger, the young thief and the Irish landlord.) The two former of these, seated in one corner, conversed together in low whispers.
    'See here, young feller,' said the stranger--'I've taken a fancy to them two letters, and if you'll let me keep 'em, here's a dollar for you.' The boy readily agreed, and the other continued:
    'I say, there's a rum set o' coves in this here crib, ain't there? Who is that well-dressed chap on the table?'
    'That,' said the boy, 'is a thief who lately made a large haul, since which time he has been cutting a tremendous swell--but he spent the whole thousand dollars in two or three weeks, and his fine clothes is all that remains. In less than a week he will look as bad as Ragged Pete.'
    'And what kind of a cove is the landlord, Bloody Mike?' asked the stranger.
    'He is the best friend a fellow has in the world, as long as his money lasts,' replied the boy. 'The moment that is gone, he don't know you. Now you'll see in a few moments how he'll clear everybody out of the house except such as he thinks has money. And, 'twixt you and me, he is the d----dst scoundrel out of jail, and would as lief kill a man as not.'
    At this moment, Bloody Mike came from behind the counter and took a general survey of the whole party. At length his eye settled upon the form of Ragged Pete, in the fireplace; muttering something about 'pinnyless loafers,' he seized that individual by the heels, and dragging