Jim laid the lunch out on his desk and while Janet munched a thick, cold meat sandwich and quaffed a glass of cold milk, he read the pages with real care.
“Say, this is just the stuff my script lacked,” enthused the continuity writer. “My gosh, Janet, you ought to be on the staff here. We pay money for fresh ideas like these.”
Janet stopped munching the sandwich and looked at Jim Hill with real interest.
“You actually think it is good?” she asked.
“I’ll say it’s good. Of course a lot of work has to be done to put it in finished form, but you’ve got the meat of it here. I’m going to take this down to McGregor. He’s still in his office.”
Before Janet could ask about McGregor and who he was, Jim Hill picked up the manuscript and his own work and fled down the hall.
When he returned ten minutes later a square hulk of a man, who had thick pompadour hair and peered through thick lensed glasses, followed him into his office.
“Janet,” said the younger writer, “I want you to know Mr. McGregor, who is head of our continuity department. I showed him your manuscript and he agrees with me that it is just what we want for the final episode in the program for Ace Pictures. Can you go on working tonight? We’ve got to have the finished draft in the morning.”
There was a dire appeal in young Jim Hill’s eyes. Janet couldn’t have ignored that and then Mr. McGregor spoke.
“It is extremely important that we have the Ace contract,” he said in his slow, precise way. “Other companies are also anxious for it and if our dress rehearsal Saturday night fails to meet the approval of the Ace officials, we may lose the contract, which would then go to one of our rivals. We are none too sure but what they have certain people within our own staff who might sell them some of our secrets about this program.”