"_Sapristi_!" he remarks loudly--and makes a dive at the Kid.
The chair I throwed at him was wasted, because Scanlan stepped aside and flattened the assassin with a left hook to the jaw. The big guy gives one yell and rushes out of the office.
"Who's your friend?" I asks the Kid, pointin' to the sleepin' beauty on the floor.
The Kid glares down at the body and prods it with his foot.
"The big stiff!" he says. "I should have murdered him!"
"Well," I tells him soothin'ly, "it ain't too late yet! What started the mêlée?"
He sits on the side of the desk and lights a cigarette.
"This hick is standin' outside here," he begins, "when I come along as peaceful as the Swiss navy. I see right away he's a Eyetalian, and I'm anxious to show him I can talk his chatter so--"
"Wait a minute!" I butts in. "Since when have _you_ been able to speak Eyetalian?"
"What?" he snorts. "Another one, eh? Ain't Miss Vincent been teachin' me English, French, Eyetalian and what to do with the oyster fork?"
"Is she?" I comes back. "That's all new to me. The last flash I got you was just takin' up how to enter a room!"
"Well, I'm past that," he explains, "and next week I begin on manners. Anyhow, I see this boob standin' there, and I says to myself, here's a chance to pull a little Eyetalian. So with that I stands in front of him and says, '_Bomb Germo, Senorita--a vostrican salute_!'"
The Kid stops and bangs his fist down on the table.
"What d'ye think the big hick said?" he asks me.
"He grins at me, waggles his shoulders and pipes, '_No spika da Engleesh_!"
"'What d'ye mean _English_!' I says. 'That ain't English, that's Eyetalian, Stupid! _Bomb Germo Senorita_!'
"I grabs him by the shoulder and swing him around.
"'What part of Italy was you born in?' I inquires. 'Hoboken?'
"By this time my goat was runnin' around wild. I grabbed his other shoulder and looked him in the eye.
"'I'll give you one more chance,' I says; 'cut the comedy now and come through or you're gonna have some bad luck. _Bomb Germo Senorita_!'
"With that, havin' took all a human bein' could stand, I let him fall!"
"Just a minute!" I says, as Scanlan starts for the door. "I want to ask you a question about the Eyetalian language, as long as you know so much about it. Just what does _Bomb Germo_ mean?"