PARTISAN REVIEW
him all over the neighborhood, and now she's got a ball and
chain on him. Christ, he'll even have to go to work," Taite
said, burlesqueing his last sentence.
"That's not so. It was a lousy trick, and she comes from
a decent family and doesn't deserve it," Red said.
"Red, she's a terrible spider, and she spun a web around
Paulie, my pal Paulie," Kilarney said, extravagantly.
\Veary Reilley entered, with his right hand bandaged. They
asked him if he'd been knocking brick buildings over.
"I just tangled holes with some flukey-looking wiseacre
down at Sixty-third and the Grove. He thought he was tough,
so I sent him home with a handful of teeth and a puss full of
blood. But I damn near broke my hand to hell on him and had
to have three stitches put in it. Anyway, I learned something.
Instead of breaking my dukes any more on some rat's face, I'm
g~tting
me a nice pair of brass knucks."
Studs thought of bow he hadn't had a fight since hell-and–
gone. But once he'd cleaned up Reilley. Nobody else in the
neighborhood had. He suppcsed, too, that he'd have to tangle
again with him. Reilley always tried to get even. \Vell, Reilley
wouldn·t be as hard this time, with his dukes on the fritz.
They kept asking Reilley questions and praising him. Hell, had
they forgot what a battler Studs Lonigan was?
ed.
"Say, who
in
hell is going to give me a fag?"
"Kilarney, don't you ever smoke your own?" Red respond-
"O.P.'s satisfy me."
"Some day other people will get wise to you," kidded Reu.
"Fellow, you know what Barnum said?"
Studs handed Kenny a cigarette.
"Thanks, chump," kidded Kilarney.
"Hey, Kilarney, think you'll ever amount to much?" asked
Taite.
"Sure! Why I even went downtown yesterday to look for
a job."
18
