"And they're all cheap. Yes, sir, some are cheaper than others, of course.
There's the patent-leather hair lounge-lizard. I hand him the fur-lined
medal for cheapness. But I got a lot of other medals and I give them all
away, too.
"Well, sir, they come in here and you take hold of their hand and start in
doing honest work and, blooey! they're off. They're strangers in town. And
lonesome! My God, how lonesome they are! And they don't know no place to
go. That's the way they begin. And they give your hand a squeeze and roll
a soft-boiled eye at you.
"Say, it gets kind of tiring, you can imagine. Particularly after you've
been through what I have and know their middle names, which are all alike,
they all answering to the name of cheap sport. Sometimes I give them the
baby stare and pretend I don't know what's on their so-called minds. And
sometimes when my nerves are a little ragged I freeze them. Then sometimes
I take them up. I let them put it over.
"You'd be surprised. Liars! They're all rich. The young ones are all bond
salesmen with wealthy fathers and going to inherit soon. The middle-aged
ones are great manufacturers. The old ones are retired financiers. You
should ought to hear the lads when they're hitting on all six.
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