“Jimmy, if this case ever went to court, and we spread on the records all we know, not only about this case but about other dastardly things he has done, Rand would be so discredited that no editor would ever again hire him, and he might find it difficult to get a job of any sort whatever. I’m mightily mistaken about Rand if he doesn’t quit cold when he gets my letter. But if he doesn’t, I shall proceed against him at once.”
Jimmy left the office both happy and sorry. He was glad he was to be free from the competition of such a man as Rand. He was sorry that through him misfortune came upon another—even Rand. He said as much to LaRoche.
“Forget, Kid,” replied the rum runner. “You’re a square shooter clear through. Otherwise I wouldn’t never have had nothin’ to do with you. But this other fellow is only a rattlesnake. You hadn’t nothing to do with his downfall. He brought that on himself. And if it hadn’t come now, through you, it would have come later through some one else.”
Jimmy walked with LaRoche to the latter’s headquarters in a tough riverfront hotel. “You’ve been a real friend to me,” he said. “I appreciate it, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“I don’t want no thanks. You’ve been my friend. Don’t you suppose I like the friendship of a kid as white as you are? When you get in trouble again, let me know. You can always count on Henri LaRoche.”
The rum runner held out his hand. Jimmy shook it warmly. “Good-bye and good luck to you,” he said.
At the end of the week Jimmy sauntered into the office to get his pay. There was a notice conspicuously posted on the bulletin board. He stopped to read it. Then a great smile came over his countenance, for this is what he read:
Staff Promotions
Johnnie Lee and Jimmy Donnelly, for excellent work in connection with the coverage of the steamship disaster in Lake Ontario, will each receive a bonus of $50, together with an increase in salary, same to be effective at once.
Tom Johnson