page 97 and 98 of DEVIL MAKE A THIRD:

Buck laughed.

"Got enough trouble with drunks now, without you drivin' a mare through my store."

George hooked his thumbs in the top of his pants and screwed his neck around in the collar.

"I don't take much while I'm workin'."

"Hmph!" Buck looked down at George. "What kind of work do you do? I see you around, prancin' like a stud horse with a diamond in his halter, but I never saw you hit a lick."

"I use my head," he said, and made shuffling signs, fast, with hands that had no lost motion in their movements.

I believe the character of STYLISH GEORGE is modeled after Dothan's C. J. Faulk (1873-1938)

[clippings from September 2, 1916 Dothan Eagle, from the October 10, 1923 Dothan Eagle, from the December 23, 1916 Dothan Eagle, from the May 28, 1916 Birmingham News, from the October 20, 1925 Dothan Eagle]

  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/216092675/charles-jennings-faulk