went first to the Palace Garden near the Tivoli Theatre, where
Geary and Vandover had beer and Ellis a whisky cocktail. The performance
was just finishing, and they voted that they were not at all amused at a
lean, overworked girl whom they saw performing a song and dance through
a blue haze of tobacco smoke; so they all exclaimed, "Cherries are
ripe!" and tramped out again to visit the Luxembourg. The beer began to
go against Vandover's stomach by this time, but he forced it down his
throat, shutting his eyes. Then they said they would go to the toughest
place in town, "Steve Casey's"; this was on a side-street. The walls
were covered with yellowed photographs of once-famous pugilists and
old-time concert-hall singers. There was sand on the floor, and in the
dancing room at the back, where nobody danced, a jaded young man was
banging out polkas and quick-steps at a cheap piano.

At the Crystal Palace, where they all had shandy-gaff, they met one of
Ellis's friends, a young fellow of about twenty. He was stone deaf, and
in consequence had become dumb; but for all that he was very eager to
associate with the young men of the city and would not hear of being
separated and set apart with the other deaf mutes. He was very pleased
to meet them and joined them at once. They all knew him pretty well and
called him the "Dummy."

In the course of the evening the patty was seen at nearly every bar and
saloon in the neighbourhood of Market and Kearney streets. Geary and
Vandover were very drunk indeed. Vandover was having a glorious time; he
was not silent a minute, talking, laughing, and singing, and crying out
continually, "Cherries are ripe!" When he could think of nothing else to
say he would exclaim, "Yee-ee-_ow_! Thash way I feel."

For two hours they drank steadily. Vandover was in a dreadful condition;
the Dummy got so drunk that he could talk, a peculiarity which at times
had been known to occur to him. As will sometimes happen, Geary sobered
up a little and at the "Grotto" bathed his head and face in the
washroom. After this he became pretty steady, he stopped drinking, and
tried to assume the management of the party, ordering their drinks for
them, and casting up the amount of the check.

About two o'clock they returned toward the Luxembourg, staggering and
swaying. The Luxembourg was a sort of German restaurant under a theatre
where one could get some very good German dishes. There Vandover had
beer and sauerkraut,