“You win, old fellow,” he said. “Since you’re determined to go ahead anyway, I’d be all kinds of a fool if I were to fail to take advantage of this opportunity. The chances are about a million to one that you’ll be nabbed and thrown into jail on your first attempt; but if by a miracle you should succeed in getting any pictures, I’ll be tickled to death to use them in the Bulletin.”
“Good boy!” exclaimed Hawley joyously. “That’ll be much more satisfactory to me than pasting them in my scrapbook. And now that I’m a full-fledged member of your staff, Fred—beg pardon; I should say boss—have you any instructions for me? Any particular picture assignment you wish me to go out and cover?”
“Oh, no; I shall not give you any assignments. I’ll leave it entirely to you to select your own subjects. Anything will do. No matter what the snapshots may be[Pg 48]—even if it’s only a picture of an electric-light pole—the extraordinary circumstances will make it of sufficient value to be worth a place on our front page.”
“Very good,” said Hawley; “I am inclined to agree with you that it will be the best policy to give me a free hand. But I assure you,” he added, with a chuckle, “I have no intention of snapshotting such uninteresting subjects as electric-light poles. The kind of pictures I intend to go after will have a little more life to them than that. In fact, I have an idea now for a group of snapshots which I think would be of great interest to the Bulletin’s readers. If I can put it across, I think it will make even more of a hit than those pictures of the sleeping police chief.”
“What’s the idea?” Carroll inquired, with a little more eagerness than he was desirous of manifesting.
The Camera Chap drew his chair nearer, and lowered his voice almost to a whisper: “Do you remember, Fred, that stunt the Sentinel pulled off several years ago, when we were roasting the New York police department? I mean those automobiles filled with reporters which the Sentinel sent out one night to tour the entire city and count the number of cops who were loafing instead of patrolling their beats?”
“Do I remember it!” exclaimed Carroll, with a reminiscent chuckle. “I should say I do! It was just after I joined the Sentinel staff. I was one of the reporters assigned to the story. I shall never forget that automobile ride. We rode a hundred blocks, and in all that distance only encountered one policeman who was conscientiously attending to business. The exposé the Sentinel published the next day created a whopping big scandal, and resulted in the biggest shake-up in the history of the New York police department.”
“That’s right,” said Hawley. “Well, what’s the matter, Fred, with pulling off something on those lines right here in Oldham? I’ve got a hunch that this city isn’t being patrolled any too well during the night hours. With a lazy, incompetent fathead like Hodgins at the head of the force, it’s a pretty safe guess that there isn’t much discipline among the rank and file. A tour of the city by night probably would reveal some interesting facts about the Oldham police department.”
Carroll nodded vigorously. “You bet it would. You are quite right in supposing that the cops of this burg are a pretty punk lot. The great majority of them got their appointments to the force by political pull, and—well, as you can readily imagine, they’re not by any means the best material that could have been found for the job. Yes, your suggestion is a mighty good one, Hawley, old man. I deserve to be kicked for not having thought of it myself long ago. An exposé of that sort ought to sell a lot of Bulletins.”
“Sure it would!” declared the Camera Chap enthusiastically. “I’m glad you approve. Thought you’d look at it in that light. Guess there’s no sense in wasting any time,” he added. “I might as well get busy this very night.”