Adventures of Thubway Tham. Johnston McCulley

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      It would have taken a corps of experts to explain the dog that stood before Tham now. He was a dog, and that was all, with a body that was Airedale and ears that were spaniel. There was a trace of hound about him, a hint of setter, and not a little terrier. He was yellow in spots and brown in spots. His eyes seemed to gleam; he appeared to be laughing, and his stump of a tail wagged in furious rhythm.

      “What theemth to be the matter, dog?” Thubway Tham asked.

      Evidently nothing very serious was the matter. The dog sprang back joyously a few feet and gave a sharp bark. Then he frisked to one side, sprang into the street, dodged between two taxicabs, and darted back to Thubway Tham’s side as though he had been demonstrating what a sure-footed dog he was.

      “My goodnethth!” Tham said with a gasp. “You’ll be gettin’ run over one of thethe fine dayth.”

      The dog barked again, stood upon its hind legs and waltzed a measure or two, and then crept forward once more. Thubway Tham bent over and patted the canine on the head, thinking that would settle it—and it did. Knowing nothing of dogs, Tham was of the opinion that now this animal would scamper away. Instead, the dog glued to Thubway Tham. He had adopted a new master.

      Tham did not notice it as he walked briskly along the street toward the restaurant, for his mind was upon breakfast and nothing else. He passed into the eating shop, and was hailed by the snappy head waitress.

      “Mr. Tham, you can’t bring that dog in here. You know very well that it’s against the rules!”

      Thubway Tham turned in surprise to find the dog at his heels. His face grew red.

      “It ith not my dog,” he explained. “He jutht followed me down the thtreet. Dog, get out of here!” He motioned toward the street. The dog barked once, then darted away. Tham went on to his table.

      Having partaken of his usual breakfast, Thubway Tham paid the amount of the check and stepped out upon the busy street once more, his intention being to walk up to Madison Square, rest there on a bench, and watch the crowds for a time, and then, when the rush hour arrived, descend into the subway and make an effort to “lift a leather.”

      “Thith ought to be a good-luck day,” Tham mused.

      A subdued bark caused him to look clown. There was the dog. It flashed through Thubway Tham’s mind that the canine had waited in front of the restaurant like a faithful animal, and now was ready to proceed.

      “Dog, don’t follow me,” Thubway Tham said commandingly. “I don’t crave it. You couldn’t follow me into the thubway, tho you might ath well thtop now.”

      The dog retreated a short distance, but he followed Thubway Tham through the streets, across busy corners, and to the square. Tham found his favorite bench unoccupied, and sat upon it. He watched the throng crossing the square—clerks, snappy, stenographers, young attorneys and he listened to the wild talk of loafing men who desired to reform the world more to their individual likings. It was all old stuff to Thubway Tham, but he never tired of it. Madison Square is a liberal education for a man who keeps his eyes and ears open.

      Crouching at the end of the bench beside Thubway Tham’s feet, the dog seemed fully content to rest there with his nose on his paws and his eyes rolling up every few seconds toward the face of his new master.

      A man stopped beside the bench. Thubway Tham glanced up lazily to find that it was Detective Craddock. Between him and Tham there had been warfare for some time. The former had taken an oath to catch the little dip “with the goods” and have him sent “up the river” for a long term. The latter had sworn to himself that such a thing never would occur. Each respected the other as a foe worthy of steel.

      “Tho!” Tham said. “Tho I thee your ugly fathe again, do I? I wath jutht thayin’ to mythelf that it wath a lovely day, and now you come along and thpoil it.”

      “Indeed, Tham?” Craddock said. “I regret it exceedingly. But my duty, you know, compels me to wander hither and yon, as the saying is.”

      “Uh-huh!” said Tham with a grunt. “Hither and yon ith right. But it theemth to me that hither and yon alwayth meanth where I happen to be at.”

      “Tham, your grammar is shocking this morning.”

      “You,” said Tham, “would thhock anybody.”

      “I see that you have picked up a little stranger.”

      “Meaning—” Tham questioned.

      “That nameless and not-to-be-analyzed specimen of canine that reposes at your feet.”

      “Oh!” Tham exclaimed. “He ith a cop hound.”

      “Yes?”

      “Yeth! He can thmell a cop a mile away. He barkth twithe when a plain-clotheth man cometh along.”

      “But he did not bark when I approached.”

      “I mean a regular plain-clotheth man,” Tham said. “He knowth the real thing from an imitation every time.”

      Craddock’s face flushed, but he controlled his temper. “However, Tham, I am glad to see a dog with you,” he said. “When a dog takes up with a man, it is a sure sign that the man has at least some good in him.”

      “My goodnethth!” Tham exclaimed.

      “I remember a particularly atrocious murderer years ago who had a dog that grieved when we jailed the master. We couldn’t understand it at first, and then we found that even the atrocious murderer had his good side. He never killed anybody on holidays.”

      “Uh-huh!” said Tham, grunting. “That dog ith one that jutht happened to tag along behind me thith mornin’. I don’t even know hith name, Craddock.”

      “Perhaps he is better nameless,” Detective Craddock suggested cruelly.

      “Craddock, what do you want to knock that dog for?” Tham demanded. “Maybe he ith a good dog. He thhowed thome thenthe pickin’ out me inthtead of you.”

      “Huh!” Craddock exclaimed. “I fail to see, Tham, how you expect to use him in your business. He’ll be a pest in the subway, and you don’t work anywhere else.”

      “Craddock, if you mean to inthinuate—”

      “Cut the comedy!” Craddock suggested. “We understand each other, old boy. Were you thinking seriously of taking a ride in our beloved subway today?”

      “Poththibly.”

      “Maybe I’d better tag along with you, then, and look to the interests of such of our estimable citizens who happen to possess those things termed wallets.”

      “Thuit yourthelf,” Tham responded. “The day ith yourth, I thuppothe, to do ath you like with it.”

      “I’m truly sorry, Tham, but I cannot be your little playmate today,” Craddock replied. “I happen to be out looking for a regular crook—a burglar.”

      “Well, my goodnethth!” Thubway Tham exclaimed. “Whoever told you that a burglar wath a regular СКАЧАТЬ