Ikey

“ The flyest cove among all us ring-sellers is little Ikey, the Jew. There were two used to work the game. They had a real gold ring, just like the ones they were selling, and they always used to pitch near a pawnbroker’s shop. Ikey’s pal would buy a ring for a penny, of the street-seller, and would then say, loud enough to be heard by the bystanders, ‘There’s a pawn shop—I’ll go and ask them to take it in.’ A crowd would follow him. ”

“ One famous Ex-President of the Great Republic was present, and many of the most distinguished citizens of the two countries; Ikey Aaronsohnn with his eternal twinkle, was there, and Jaggers looking like a Church of England Bishop. Chukkers alone was absent. And he was lying low upstairs, it was said, with one of Ikey's Own at his bedside, and another over his door, to see that no harm befell him before the great day dawned. America might not like the great jockey, but she meant him to ride her mare to victory. ”

“ Bud bunches his hits on the bell and the low-forehead has a Fitzsimmons hug on the order when Ikey Mincenpizenstein crawls into the harbor and drops anchor at our table.
I don't know how Ikey ever pressed close enough to get on Bud's staff.
Ikey is a lazy loosener.
When the waiter deals out the check Ikey is the busiest talker in the bunch.
Whenever he passes a bank he takes off his hat and walks on his toes.
He's the sort of a Sim Dempsey who sheds in-growing tears every time anybody spends money in his neighborhood. ”

“ The worst of us have our redeeming features. And Chukkers with all his crude defects possessed at least one outstanding virtue—faithfulness—to the man who had made him. Ikey had brought him as a lad into the country where he had made his name; Ikey had given him his chance; to Ikey for twenty-five years now he had stuck with unswerving devotion, in spite of temptation manifold, often-repeated, and aggravated. ”

“ He started right off to skylarking; the wax melted and down flopped Ikey into the sea. No sharks in those waters, it seems, for the old man planed down, fished out all that was left of Ikey's ambitions and buried it, and then went on his way and made an eggshell landing in Sicily.
"It's the same old story with flyers learning these days. Most of the smash-ups in the early part of the war were caused by young smart Alecks thinking they knew it all on the first jump-off. Take that in and think it over good and hard. Even after you graduate at college, you have hardly begun your education." ”

“ Strong and simple was Chunk McGowan. A better reader of men than Ikey was could have seen that his tough frame was strung upon fine wires. Like a good general who was about to invade the enemy’s territory he was seeking to guard every point against possible failure. ”

“ With Ikey she was especially loath to part.
“I’ll never get one like him,” she wailed, “Ikey is the funniest four-legged clown in America. He’s a natural-born comedian. Folks think I learn him those tricks, but it’s all his own stuff. Only last week we was playing Paoli’s in Bridgeport, and when I was putting Bruno through the hoops, Ikey runs to the stage-box and grabs a pound of caramels out of a girl’s lap-and swallows the box. And in St. Paul, if the trombone hadn’t worn a wig, Ikey would have scalped him. ”

“ In its silken meshes the Wanderer has been caught for the two hundred and sixty-seventh time. Hapless Being! his case is beyond the reach of art. I see it in the vulturelike look with which he devours the charms of the yellow-haired Miriam. It is an awful sight to see all that suffering, and experience, and wisdom subjugated—though but for an hour—by a foolish puppet, whom I or any bystander, not being in love with her, can easily enough perceive to be the ordinary mixture of coquetry and commonplace. Ah, Ikey, Ikey! ”

“ They had a profound admiration for John Bull's capacity for roguery, and an equally profound belief in their own ability to go one better.
Last year J.B. had bested them—and they thought all the better of him for it. This year they meant to get their own back—and a bit more.
We are coming, Uncle Ikey, we are coming millions strong,
For to see the haughty English don't do our Ikey wrong,
they sang out of the windows with provocative enjoyment. ”

“ We all gotta remember to say what folks like you’se say to each udder, ef we’re goin’ to live at Happy Hills!” rebuked Ikey Einstein, thoughtfully.
“That’s right, too, Ikey, but you have had more opportunities to practice than Micky had; when he meets us often, he, too, will begin to change his habits and ways of expressing himself.”
[38] As Mr. Talmage spoke, Micky Finn recalled the words his pal Skelly had said a short time before: something about becoming a little lady with fine manners but no fun!
“Good gracious, Uncle Ben—aren’t you most done talking to those boys?” ”

“ Und sooner that man makes, like Morris says, mit hammers, comes more mans mit more hammers, und they throws 'em. Und comes more mans mit from iron balls so big like Ikey's head, und they throws 'em, und the ladies [32] und the mans they stands und yells, und music plays, und the ladies make go their flags und scups up und down on their seats. Und the mans mit those balls und hammers they has awful mads. They is red on the face, und they tries und they tries—Missis Bailey, Ikey says it's somethin' fierce how they tries—und they couldn't never to hit nobody. ”

“ So Smithy says to me, 'You take a hold Of that there moke of yours, and round the turn Come up behind Enchantress with the whip And let her have it; that long bloke and me Will wait ahead, and when she comes to us We'll pass her on and belt her down the straight, And Ikey'll flog her home, because his boss Is judge and steward and the Lord knows what, And so he won't be touched — and, as for us, We'll swear we only hit her by mistake!' And all the books was layin' five to one. ”

“ She came by at that swift pattering walk of hers—like a girl going marketing as her lovers said—amid the comments of her admirers.
"She's all right, sure!"
"Don't she nip along?"
"He looks grim, Chukkers do."
"Yes; he's for it this time."
"They've injected her—American style."
"Never!"
"They have, my son. Trust Jaggers. Can't leave it to Nature. Must always go one better."
"Ikey's got two other horses in."
"Which?"
"There's old Jackaroo—in the purple and gold, Rushton riding."
"Which is the second Dewhurst horse?"
"This in the canary. Flibberty-gibbet. Little Boy Braithwaite." ”

“ A sneer which vastly amused his chums, for Ikey's inborn love for the root of all evil was well known.
As the group stood talking, along came a man, walking briskly from the direction the Seacove boys had come in their automobile. Two or three of the munition workers spoke to the man, who was broad-shouldered, walked with a brisk military step, and was heavily bewhiskered.
Whistler stopped talking to a possible candidate for the blue uniform of the Navy, and looked after this stranger.
"Who is he?" he asked.
"That's Blake. Works in our laboratory. Nice fellow," was the reply. ”

“ At no period could thieves in London or elsewhere have prospered had they been unable to dispose of their ill-gotten goods. The trade of fence, or receiver, therefore, is very nearly as old as the crimes which it so obviously fostered. [115] One of the most notorious, and for a time most successful practitioners in this illicit trade, passed through Newgate in 1831. The name of Ikey Solomons was long remembered by thief and thief-taker. He began as an itinerant street vendor at eight, at ten he passed bad money, at fourteen he was a pickpocket and a “duffer,” or a seller of sham goods. ”

“ This door kicked open outboard, giving vent upon the sea, the opening being about ten feet above the waterline of the Kennebunk.
The two chums were deeply engaged in the compartment for some time while the crew and officers on deck watched the approach of the target boat. The course of that and the battleship would bring the two within speaking distance in an hour or less.
Suddenly Ikey croaked a warning: "Hist! What's that, Frenchy?"
"What's what?" puffed his friend, just then very much engaged in fastening together two joints of pipe. "Don't try to scare a fellow. Nobody's coming." ”

“ Finally, however, the American naval vessel was swung about for port and began to pick up speed. These destroyers never seem to go anywhere at an easy pace; they are always “rushed” in their schedule.
Having given up hope of catching the particular submarine that had sunk the Newcastle Boy, the Colodia’s lookouts did not, however, fail to watch for other submersibles. Men stationed in the tops, on the bridge, and in both bow and stern, trained keen eyes upon the surrounding sea as the destroyer dashed on her way.
Ikey Rosenmeyer and his special chum, Frenchy Donahue, were in the bows on watch. ”

“ Thede continued, "Finklebaum chases out to a dealer in antiques to make inquiries about the Little Brass God. I guess he thinks it's some East India idol, or something of that kind, and that his fortune is made."
"Supposing it should be an East India idol!" exclaimed George,
"It may be, for all I know," Thede replied. "Anyhow, while old Finklebaum was out trying to find out how much his Little Brass God was worth, little Ikey sold it for a ten dollar note." ”

“ In their quarters aboard the destroyer Colodia they would not have been able to stow the junk they now secured away from the watchful eyes of the master-at-arms. In the destroyer their ditty boxes had to hide any private property the boys wanted to stow away.
But a man could lose himself in the various decks of the superdreadnaught. Even the officers' quarters were forward with the crew's, the ship was so huge. There were unused rooms and compartments for which Ikey and Frenchy did not know the names, or their uses. ”

“ He helped Curly with his correspondence.
Hungry. His nickname needs no explanation. He was. Once Mr. Hoover dined with him, hence his food conservation idea. Hungry hailed from London.
Ikey. He was. Came from the East Side, London. Brave as a lion, and to our discomfort, musically inclined.
Dick. Irish, from Dublin. Always ready. Greatly admired the Kaiser because he started such a glorious scrap.
Sailor Bill. A Welshman. He had had a "cruise" in the Navy, and wanted everybody to know it. They did. He was detailed with the gun's crew to carry "ammo" (ammunition) .
Yank. ”

“ He's a damned good soldier—always on the job, and next to Corporal French, and his brother, Haunted Jerry, he's the best scout for work in No Man's Land that ever put a foot in these blinkin' ditches. It's only lately that he's [Pg 80] been having these spells so often, and yesterday the Sergeant-Major told me that he was under observation, and that it would only be a short time before he was shipped back.'
"Jim was still whimpering. This got on Ikey's nerves and he gave Jim a sharp cuff on the side of the head. ”

“ Ike was dragged from the room while protesting in the most earnest manner, and so he struggled all the way up the stairs.
After he had been led from the room, one of the men said:
“You are wrong, cap.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“That lad did follow a cat in here, and he was so frank.”
“Was he?”
“Yes; you heard all he said.”
“I did, and I’ve something to tell you. That is one of the smartest lads in New York. He holds the liberty of every man of us in his hands.” ”

“ Lulu, who had been greatly excited, inquired:
“Did he really accuse you falsely, Ike?”
“You saw what occurred,” was all that our hero answered. He was satisfied; the man whom he had made a show of once kicked him without cause. Our hero recollected the kick and thus repaid it.
When the show was over Ike and Lulu returned home. On the following day Ike was busy. He was preparing the living receipt for the landlord when he called. At the appointed hour the man appeared and to his surprise at a table there sat the old magician, Andro. ”

“ The man seized the lad by the arms, but the next instant he began to writhe and twist, and finally fell to the floor, evidently paralyzed and helpless. Ike was a powerful fellow for his age. He raised the man and placed him in the chair, and his natural genius for invention discovered to him at a glance how the chair was operated, and in less time than we can tell the man was secured in the chair. So skillful was the contrivance that a casque settled upon his head, closed and held his jaws together better than any gag ever invented, and there he sat powerless and speechless. ”

“ Dame Nature had gotten Ike up without especial regard to good looks, but had braced, propped and generally supported his irregular features with wonderful bones and sinews, all contained in a close knit wrapper of inflexible cord and muscle. Like other unusually powerful men, Ike was usually the very soul of good nature; but when fully aroused and forced on the aggressive he was known and acknowledged to be a holy terror. He had long powerful arms and hands, broad shoulders, thick neck, surmounted by a bullet-shaped head with small ears. ”

“ Ike was a hopeful little fellow and he muttered:
“This means something—it means that it is not ‘all up’ with me after all. I am going to get out of this scrape, and then, by ginger, some one will wish they had been wiped out in a cyclone.”
Our hero ate and drank, and crawling away from his stake as far as he could he hid the bottle with the remark:
“I do not know just when I may have a visitor. I’ll be on my guard and not get my friend into trouble.” ”