“That was the mistake I made.” Ben slowly stirred his coffee. “Cordell didn’t have much to say, but the next thing I knew, I was out of a job and on the street.”
“Are you sure that was why he discharged you?”
“What else?”
Penny hesitated, not wishing to hurt Ben’s feelings. There were several things she had heard about him—that he was undependable and that he drank heavily.
“Most of the things you’ve been told about me aren’t true,” Ben said quietly, reading her thoughts. “Jason Cordell started a lot of stories intended to discredit me. He told editors that I had walked off a job and left an important story uncovered. He pictured me as a drunkard and a trouble maker.”
“I’ll talk to my father,” Penny promised. “As short as the Star is of employes, I’m sure there must be a place for you.”
“You’re swell,” Ben said feelingly. “But I’m not asking for charity. I’ll get along.”
Refusing to talk longer about himself, he told Penny of amusing happenings along the waterfront. After dessert had been finished, she slipped a bill into his hand, and they left the restaurant.
Outside, the streets were dark, for in this section of the city, lights were few and far between. Ben offered to escort Penny back to the Star office or wherever she wished to go.
“This isn’t too safe a part of the city for a girl,” he declared. “Especially after night.”