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She told them that that was all the money she had in the world, and begged them

not to take it.

"Youse've got more coin dan dis," growled one of the men, "an' youse had better

pass it over, or we'll find a way to make youse."

But still she insisted that that was all. The tramp stepped into the kitchen. A

wood fire was burning in the stove. A pair of pliers lay upon the window sill. With

these he lifted one of the hot stove-hole covers and returned to the parlor,

grinning.

"I guess she'll remember she's got more wen dis begins to woik," he said. "Take off

her shoes, Dink."

The other growled an objection.

"Yeh poor boob," he said. "De dicks'll be here in a little while. We'd better be

makin' our get-away wid w'at we got."

Gee!" exclaimed his companion. "I clean forgot all about de dicks," and then after

a moment's silence during which his evil face underwent various changes of

expression from fear to final relief, he turned an ugly, crooked grimace upon his

companion.

"We got to croak her," he said. "Dey ain't no udder way. If dey finds her alive she'll

blab sure, an' dey won't be no trouble 'bout gettin' us or identifyin' us neither."

The other shrugged.

Le's beat it," he whined. "We can't more'n do time fer dis job if we stop now; but

de udder'll mean--" and he made a suggestive circle with a grimy finger close to

his neck.

"No it won't nothin' of de kind," urged his companion. "I got it all doped out. We

got lots o' time before de dicks are due. We'll croak de skirt, an' den we'll beat it

up de road AN' MEET DE DICKS--see?"

The other was aghast.

Wen did youse go nuts?" he asked.

I ain't gone nuts. Wait 'til I gets t'rough. We meets de dicks, innocent-like; but

first we caches de dough in de woods. We tells 'em we hurried right on to lead 'em

to dis Byrne guy, an' wen we gets back here to de farmhouse an' finds wot's

happened here we'll be as flabbergasted as dey be."

183

The Mucker