Short Fiction · Chapter
Babes in the Jungle explained
Billy Keogh reunites with Montague Silver in New York, where Silver boasts about the ease of swindling naive city dwellers.
What happens
Billy Keogh reunites with Montague Silver in New York, where Silver boasts about the ease of swindling naive city dwellers. They meet a man posing as J.P. Morgan, who mentions a rare painting he desperately wants. Silver and Keogh buy the painting from a pawnshop for $2,000, only to discover it is a common print sold in department stores for $3.48.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it captures the precise moment the protagonist’s humor shifts f…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
Silver and Keogh attempt to deceive a fake J.P. Morgan with a supposedly rare painting, only to be deceived themselves by a common print.
- Humor and Irony
The irony of the con artists being outsmarted by a pawnbroker and the absurdity of the 'J.P. Morgan' character.
- Crime and Consequence
The planned swindle and the eventual loss of $2,000 highlight the risks of criminal schemes.
Characters to notice
- Billy Keogh
Narrator and partner of Montague Silver; recounts their scheme in New York.
- Jeff Peters
Referenced as Montague Silver, the street man and art grafter who advises moving to New York.
- The Captain
Not present in this chapter.
Key passages
“In the West a sucker is born every minute; but in New York they appear in chunks of roe—you can’t count ’em!”
In the West, there is a constant supply of gullible people, but in New York, they are so abundant that they are impossible to count.
Silver's cynical view of New Yorkers as easy targets for con artists.
“I’d hate for my mother to know I was skinning these weak-minded ones. She raised me better.”
I would be ashamed if my mother knew I was cheating these simple-minded people, as she taught me to be better.
Silver's ironic moral qualms about swindling.
“The department stores have all got that same picture on sale, framed, for $3.48. And they charge $3.50 for the frame alone—that’s what I can’t understand.”
The painting they bought for $2,000 is sold in department stores for $3.48, with the frame alone costing $3.50, which baffles Silver.
The ironic twist revealing the con artists were themselves conned.
