#authentification

TOP PANEL [ID: Maggie lies back, relaxed, in a wooden boat, lounging under her parasol. Jiggs sits in front of her, struggling to row the boat. /end] Maggie: I could go on like this for ever and ever! Jiggs: Say, do you know I'm payin' fifty cents an hour fer this boat! [INFLATION GUIDE: In 2022 dollars, Jiggs is renting that boat for almost $9/hr. /end]

MAIN COMIC [ID: Dinty Moore and two other of Jiggs' working-class friends sit morosely in Dinty's backyard. Jiggs stands beside them. /end] Dinty Moore: Poor Grogan. If he don't raise $500 bail, he'll have to stay in jail. Friend: If he wuz out, he could git it! Jiggs: I'll see what I kin do. Grogan is an old pal of mine! [INFLATION GUIDE: Grogan's bail is a bit over $8,800. /end]

[ID: Back home, Jiggs cowers behind the back of his armchair as he peeks over to ask Maggie a question. Maggie, sat at a low table on a wooden stool, turns around, disgruntled. /end] Jiggs: Say, Maggie, can I have $500 of my money to lend to a friend? Maggie: You haven't got a friend worth $500, so stop raving and get dressed. We're calling on the De Cay's this afternoon!

[ID: Maggie joyfully converses with the De Cays while Jiggs stands sadly behind her. /end] Mrs. De Cay: We are so glad you called. We want Mr. Jiggs to see our art collection! Mr. De Cay: Is he interested in art? Maggie: Indeed, he is! Jiggs: I've done a lot of paintin' in my day. An' some plasterin'.

[ID: Mr. De Cay, a bald man with spectacles and a white beard & pointy mustache, shows off a painting on his wall to Jiggs. Jiggs looks at it suspiciously, one eye shut. /end] Mr. De Cay: Now there is a painting my wife paid $5000 for! Jiggs: The frame must be gold! [INFLATION GUIDE: That painting sold for over $88,175. /end]

[ID: Mr. De Cay grasps the lapels of his jacket and struts away. Jiggs stands, scandalized, in his wake. /end] Mr. De Cay: Pardon me just a moment, I hear my wife calling me! Jiggs: ? $5000 ?

[ID: Jiggs takes the painting off the wall, carefully eyeing his surroundings. /end] Jiggs: Poor Grogan should have studied paintin'!

[ID: Jiggs climbs out a window with the painting and balances himself atop a wooden fence. /end] Jiggs: This is the first time I have ever appreciated a paintin'!

[ID: Jiggs takes the painting to an authenticator's office. The authenticator, behind his desk, looks carefully at the painting. /end] Jiggs: I'll sell it fer five hundred cash! Authenticator: I'd like to see you. This picture is worth just five dollars.

[ID: Jiggs slumps off down the street with the painting. /end] Jiggs: The guy that made this paintin' ought to be in jail instead of Grogan!

[ID: Jiggs climbs back into the window. /end] Jiggs: I ought to let this guy know he has been stung, but I'll keep me mouth shut!

[ID: Mr. De Cay catches Jiggs in the act of re-hanging the picture on the wall. De Cay has a lit cigar in his hand. /end] Mr. De Cay: Ah! Ha! I caught you! Tried to hock it, hey? How much did they offer you? Jiggs: Only five dollars!