Charlie the Mole and Other Droll Souls

Book excerpt: From wistful Charlie the Mole, a gnome-like vagabond who established a thriving hobo hotel beneath the criminal courts building, to hapless Enrique Alferez, whose attempts to induce a chimpanzee to commit suicide unexpectedly boomeranged, a bizarre cast of authentic New Orleans characters is presented in this fascinating collection of Runyonesque profiles. Their names are often as colorful as their antics: Broadway Jonny the Fox Cox, Lou the Pitch, Suicide Simon, Roger-the-Lodger, Leapin' Lou Messina, the Chaplain of Bourbon Street, and a score of others, including a bevy of aptly named ecdysiasts who ply their trade in the establishments along unregenerate Bourbon Street. These denizens of the misty underworld embellish the charm that will always characterize romantic New Orleans.