At high school he had studied bookkeeping and some kinds of clerical work, and now he found this training of the greatest use. He volunteered to do such clerical work as he had time to do. At first, the hard pressed clerks permitted him to do a few unimportant tasks. Then, finding that he did these correctly and with perfect comprehension of the work, they trusted him with more important jobs. Before many weeks had gone by, Willie had added to his own tasks considerable clerical work.
To be sure, the amount of such work he could do was not huge, yet the assistance he gave relieved the clerks greatly. For all this extra work Willie received not a cent. But he was richly paid, none the less. He won the friendship and good-will of every man in the office, his employer began to prize him highly, and Willie himself gained immensely in knowledge of the work of the department. He was laying by a store of knowledge that would some day be of the greatest use to him. In short, he was doing just what a little tree does when it makes roots, or what masons do before the carpenters start to erect a building. He was making a foundation, and making a good one.
Willie never lost sight of his main object, however. He was aiming at no clerical job, though he gladly did clerical work. Often this work gave him an insight into the work he wanted to do, as had been the case when Mr. King explained to him about the ad valorem tax on luxuries, or when Sheridan explained to him about the duties on wool and the methods of handling wool. All such knowledge helped Willie to comprehend the problems before him and to fathom the actions of people.
Indeed, Willie was learning more about human nature every day. The theft of Mr. King’s papers and the arrest of Tom Smith had jolted Willie into a keen consciousness of some phases of life about which he had previously thought little. Now he realized, not only that many people are dishonest, but that they are desperately wicked, and that to cover up their evil deeds they will not hesitate even to commit murder. Day by day he heard more about the desperate chances men took along the Canadian and Mexican borders to smuggle in opium and rum; for the customs forces maintained armed guards, with powerful armored cars, along those borders. And many a running fight in the dark resulted, with more than one man injured or killed. And closer at home he knew that the rum runners who were bringing liquor surreptitiously into New York were equally dangerous and desperate.
More and more frequently Willie was called upon to take small seizures to the seizure room. This was not dangerous, yet Willie had to keep his mind on his business, for if he lost or was robbed of any of these articles, he would again fall under suspicion of being a thief himself. One experience of that sort was enough for Willie. So he learned to keep his mind absolutely on what he was doing. Thus he became very useful to the special agents when they had to convey valuables, like seized jewels, and Willie was detailed to go with them. For this happened more and more frequently.
As time passed, too, Mr. King began to use Willie for little jobs of shadowing. Often it was possible for Willie to trail a person, where a grown man could hardly have escaped observation and discovery. And every experience of this sort made Willie more observant, more comprehending, more resourceful, and so better fitted to make the most of the opportunities that sooner or later would come to him.
Although Willie still had few friends in New York, he was far from being lonely. Long ago he had arranged with his friends in Central City for wireless communications. Almost every day between half-past twelve and one o’clock he had a brief chat with some member of the Wireless Patrol. Willie regretted that he could not have his wireless at his boarding-place, so he could use it at night. Yet he knew that was really an idle wish, for he did not himself possess a battery sufficiently powerful to carry messages to Central City, nor had he yet funds enough to buy such a battery. So the present arrangement was a good one. He could talk to his friends at noon, while they were home from school and he was free. And his outfit was of great use to Mr. King. More and more the Special Agent made use of it, and Willie sent despatches for him almost daily.
Week succeeded week. When Roy or Mr. Reynolds was in port, Willie had companionship during the evenings. More than once Mr. King took Willie to his own home. He had a nephew of about Willie’s age, with whom he made him acquainted, and gradually Willie’s circle of acquaintanceship widened. Moreover, he found where the nearest branch of the public library was. Here he could obtain almost any ordinary book that had been published. When the librarian found how keen he was to read and study, she willingly got from other branches or from the main library the books Willie wanted but could not find on her own shelves. So time passed faster than Willie ever dreamed could be possible.
One day Mr. King rang the buzzer. As Willie stepped into the Chief’s office he saw that the Special Agent sat at his desk with a deep frown on his face. Before him lay a cablegram that Willie had brought to him some days previously.
“Willie,” said Mr. King, “we have reason to believe that a gang of smugglers has been getting diamonds into the country without paying the duty. We’ve watched them closely, but we have not been able to break up the smuggling. This cablegram says that one of their agents has sailed for America on the Majestic and that——”