"How did those they arrested come out, and how come the cops to be next to your little game?" Wyeth inquired, casually. "Oh, yes," cried Legs. "I forget to tell you that part of it. You see, there was a guy in the crowd--or had been, rather, whose wife didn't want him to gamble. Now he came down there and lost what little he had, and went home drunk. His wife, of course, learned that he had lost his money, and got sore. He was a damned tramp, and told her the whole story, with tears, perhaps, and you know a nigga with tears, so she went and put the cops next. "Now 'bout them other shines--the ones who got arrested--they came before Judge Loyal's the next morning, and got ten seventy-five each." "I thought it was fifteen seventy-five for gaming." "They were let off lighter, owing to the fact that I was not brought. If they'd a caught me, it would have been fifteen seventy-five for them, and about a hundred for me." Wyeth laughed amusedly. "You don't gamble or drink liquah, either, do you?" he asked, and then answered his own question. "No, I know you don't. You're lucky for using such common sense. It doesn't pay, even if four nigga's out-a five do. Yeh," he went on wearily, "only the straight and narrow path leads to happiness in the long run," and with that he turned on his side, and went to sleep. "Say," he cried suddenly, raising up, "what did you pay?" Then looked around quickly to see if he had been overheard. "Two and a half," the other replied. "How much did you?" Legs held up two fingers. "I told'm 't'was all I had, and I didn't have but a precious little more." "Are you acquainted with any one in Chicago?" Wyeth inquired. "Aw, yeh, a plenty; but I am not going on through now. I'm going to stop in Effingham for a while, it depends." "Hello, Red," cried young Hatfield, coming up now, rubbing his half closed eyes. "I see you got out all right." "Say, man!" cried Legs. "Didn't I get out of that thing in luck?" "Bet your life on that you did," commented Hatfield. "If they'd have gotten you, the devil would have been to pay." He laughed a low, hard laugh, and then added: "Those church people have had their eyes on your place for some time, and the chances are if you had been caught, they'd have appeared against you." "They certainly put old Jack Bell out of business proper," Legs commented, thoughtfully. "That old nigga conducted such a rotten dump and tiger, though; and all those dirty little girls around on top of it, I don't wonder." "Wonder whether he had any money left when they got through with him?" Hatfield inquired. "Hard to tell," said Legs. "They fined him out of hundreds, that I _do_ know."