Runabout Read Online Free Page B

a warehouse."
    }"Now, why would you want to do that, boy? Don't you know that the beer business is the most steady in the world, good times and bad?"
    }"I don't know a thing about beer parlors," Luther admitted.
    }"Well, boy," Conrad said quietly. "I suspect that this is your lucky day. 'Cause I was raised behind a bar. And I'll set that one up and run it for you."
    }"And how much do you want to be paid for that?"
    }The old man grinned. "I just want my share of the business, boy. Fifty-fifty, right down the middle."
    }As Luther gazed across the smooth, highly polished bar, he knew it was one of the best investments he'd ever made.
    }"Well," the old man began leisurely. "The good news is that we sold a fair amount of beer this morning and that Blue Turley and the Mitchum fellow are getting up a game tonight in the back room."
    }Luther looked around hastily to ensure that they weren't being overheard. Gambling of any sort was a serious crime in the state.
    }"I said I'd keep an eye out for them," Ruggy continued. "For a simple five percent of the take."
    }"Five percent."
    }The old man's eyes widened innocently. "Seems fair to me."
    }Luther laughed. He left all the decisions about the place to Ruggy.
    }"I'm putting that money aside for the new building," Ruggy said with a broad smile.
    }Luther's brow creased. "I told you, I haven't decided about the new place."
    }"But you are going to," he said, unconcerned, "and what better use could you have for that old Henniger building than a bar and billiards parlor?"
    }"Mr. Ruggy," Luther explained quietly, "it's on Main Street. Reverend Bruder would be damning my soul from his pulpit for a month of Sundays if I were to open a saloon right in the middle of town."
    }Conrad chuckled. "Lordy, it's all true what they tell ya," he said. "You can take the boy out of the church, but you can't take the church out of the boy."
    }"It's not that," Luther answered quickly. "I just respect the preacher, and he stands up for me in this town. I don't want to make trouble for him or myself."
    }With a nod, the old man let it go. "As you say, boy."
    }Ruggy went back to polishing the beer goblets and Luther looked around the bar, slightly uncomfortable.
    }"So that's the good news?" Luther said, trying to change the topic. "What's the stinkin'?"
    }Ruggy sighed heavily as he set the polished goblet forcefully on the shelf behind him. With a frown the man leaned over the bar nearly nose to nose with Luther.
    }"That female you've been scurrying around with has been here all afternoon."
    }"Emma?"
    }Conrad nodded. "I don't approve of no gals of no sort that hang out in places like this."
    }Luther knew that Conrad only allowed his wife, Mattie, inside to scrub and clean the place, and he would never open the door for customers until his lawfully wedded was safe at home.
    }"What's she doing here?" Luther asked.
    }The old man shook his head. "That's what I was fixing to ask you. She come in here about mid-afternoon mad as a wet hen. I told her you hadn't been here, and I didn't know when to expect you. It's Easter Sunday, for Lord's sake. Folks ought to be in church."
    }Luther couldn't argue with that. "What's she been doing all this time?"
    }Ruggy made a face as if he'd just had a taste of sour apple. "She's been playing pocket billiards."
    }Muttering, Luther walked to an open doorway at the far end of the saloon. The pool room was separated from the main room so that the billiards and snooker players would not be distracted by rowdy drinkers. The room itself was bare and simple. A green cloth-covered table dominated the space in front of three large glass windows. Although there were gas lamps for evening play, true snooker players only attempted serious games in the full light of afternoon.
    }A serious game was presently in progress, but it was not billiards. Emma Dix, giggling seductively, bent suggestively over the table, pool cue in her hand. Blue Turley, a rangy young cowboy, leaned over her back ostensibly