repeated: "First we stole their clothes, then we found their well-filled
purses, and now, to finish our streak of luck we have them thrown into
the bargain," they renewed their laughter, which was abruptly stopped
when Kansas Shorty suddenly asked his pal what he intended to do with
the lads. "Of course we can take them to Chicago with us and find them
some sort of a job, and thus rid ourselves of their presence," answered
Slippery, intending to shed himself of their useless company, and ever
wary of trouble he wisely added, "Kansas Shorty, you well know the trite
saying: 'Two is company; three is a crowd; four is the road to
disaster,' so let us give the lads a square deal and take them with us
to Chicago and 'drop' them there after finding employment for them." But
hardly had he finished this well-meant suggestion, than Kansas Shorty
almost in a rage retorted: "Slippery, you are proving yourself to be a
regular yegg by the soft talk you have just been giving me. You belong
to the class of men who steal and rob, while I am a "plinger", and beg
for a living. To your kind a boy is a handicap, while to our class a
good-looking boy is a most decided asset as a boy to us means a heavy
increase of our incomes and of our comforts, and now you tell me that
you are anxious to find jobs for these lads whom I could easily train
into first-class Road Kids." Slippery, dumfounded at the almost
monstrous proposition his comrade made, who was ready and willing to
spoil the youngsters' futures by transforming them into common beggars,
failed to find an immediate answer, and now Kansas Shorty, abusively
speaking, continued: "You, Slippery, have been my rambling-male for
almost a month, but now I propose that we part comradeship and you
travel on to Chicago and let me take charge of these sleeping lads, as I
do not wish other plingers to know that I have been guilty enough to
permit two likely looking lads to slip through my hands by permitting
them to accept employment, and" he added as a sort of final argument,
"when I take charge of these kids, I shall know how to keep my bread