O.Henry is telling a tale of gang warfare. A gang leader
has stabbed a rival, but after hiding for a couple days gets thirsty, and goes to a bar in neutral territory.
It is upstairs, so....


"Now, what is there about Rooney's to inspire all this pother? It is more respectable by daylight; stout ladies with children and mittens and bundles and unpedigreed dogs drop up of afternoons for a stein and a chat."