The opportunity which came to Boss Coggswell was in the form of a letter. Bill Hillman brought it to him as he sat in his private office at the headquarters of the[Pg 49] Samuel J. Coggswell Association. Hillman was one of his henchmen, who, during the enforced absence of Jake Hines, had been chosen by the boss to fill that unfortunate young man’s place as his confidential man. He was not as able a worker as Jake, judged by the standard which had made the latter so useful to his chief, but he combined the qualities of shrewdness, audacity, and unscrupulousness to a greater degree than anybody else in the organization; therefore, Coggswell had picked him as the man best fitted to wear Jake’s mantle.
“Here’s something important, boss,” Hillman exclaimed, bursting excitedly into his chief’s presence and waving a pink envelope with an ungummed flap.
Coggswell took the envelope, and noted with interest that it was addressed to the Honorable Sugden Lawrence. It bore in the left-hand corner the imprint: “Hodginson & Lehman, Attorneys, 22 Wall Street.”
He drew out the inclosure, and read eagerly the following typed communication:
“My Dear Judge: I beg to acknowledge receipt of your check for thirty thousand dollars, in full settlement of the claims of our client, Miss Marjorie Dorman. In consideration of this payment our client agrees to abandon her action against you for breach of promise of marriage, and to return all letters written to her by you. Formal agreement to this effect will be mailed to you under separate cover.
“May I take the liberty, my dear judge, of congratulating you upon the satisfactory outcome of this unpleasant case, and upon the rare good sense you have displayed in deciding to settle the matter out of court, thereby avoiding a lot of painful notoriety, which, no doubt, would have been most distressing to a man as prominent in public life as yourself? We need scarcely assure you, now, that there will be absolutely no publicity. Yours cordially,
Harvey Hodginson.”
The last sentence of this letter afforded Boss Coggswell much amusement. “No publicity!” he chuckled. “Well, I don’t know about that. I rather think that Mr. Harvey Hodginson is going to find himself mistaken on that point.”
He turned to Bill Hillman. “This letter is indeed interesting,” he remarked. “How did you get it, my boy? I hope you came by it honestly?”
Hillman’s only response was a broad grin. He knew that the boss knew very well how the letter came into his possession. In spite of the narrow escape he had had once before, Coggswell, for several days past, had been up to his old trick of having Judge Lawrence’s mail intercepted and carefully scrutinized before it was delivered to its addressee. He was so anxious to “get something on” his opponent that he considered the risk worth while.