Grapewin

On his travels the alms man met a Vaudevillian Septuagint, the two getting along like a house ablaze. Grapewin the Vaudevillian, formerly the name of a mute ventriloquist, who straining his vocal cords beyond their capacity to contract fell willy-nilly to the stage floor, his wooden doll decapitated in the fall, happening to be in the same town at the same time as the alms man, both men contracted to play the Ole Oboe House. Admiring one another’s skill at gastromancy the two went for a drink, and talking throughout the night missed the morning train; Grapewin falling asleep on the tavern floor, the alms man between two chairs. One day traveling by train between engagements the alms man sat beside a juggler named Thesprotia, the seat they shared divided by a torn armrest and a well-read newspaper. Leaning in, his eyes double-crossed, the juggler said ‘…so, you know that cad bastard Grapewin…?’