“Boss,” he had said, obsequiously, “there ain’t no use gettin’ sore when I only meant to help out. Anyways, it seemed like wastin’ time stayin’ here and....”
“Shut up!”
Devlin’s long, determined stride shook the floor with each step he took. “I didn’t make up my mind what to do about those infernal Greek kids. And I had that pest Timmy on my hands while you....”
“Didn’t things blow right, Boss?” Frost’s voice sounded conciliatory.
Devlin shouted, “Don’t remind me of it! I tell you it looks like luck is turning against me. First with Tucker out in Chi and now Timmy—I tell you they’re a dead loss! Then I come in here Saturday night almost dead, I’m so tired, and what do I find! You gone on your own hook with the two Greeks—after me telling you to stay here!”
“But, Boss—I did the job without no trouble and....”
“With that grinning face of yours I suppose you could look the part, eh? Only I’ve got the face for this business—people don’t get wise to a face like mine—they think I’m drowning in grief. But you—I wasn’t going to let you go through with the Greeks; either one of ’em. I decided that when I was fooled by that pest of a Timmy. It’s risky enough for me without you going ahead and doing things on your own. It shows what brains you’ve got when you couldn’t even wait the month at least.”
Frost became sullen and defiant at this challenge. “Oh, yeah?” he parried. “Well, let me tell you somethin’, Boss. I was goin’ to tell you when I come in but you ain’t give me a chance to get a word in—I had brains to wait a month all right, but somethin’ happened. We got a room and I passed the word around we was looking for jobs like you work it. I even give the landlady such a sob story she gives me the dope herself that we ought to get our names on the dotted line so it was soft.”
“How much?” Devlin inquired almost eagerly.
“A grand each!” came the proud reply. “I made the agent talk me into that—he said a thousand when I said five hundred.”