jingle in the jungle BY ALDO GIUNTA _When even the Fight Commission is in on the plot, and everyone knows that the "fix" is on, when no one will help him, what can a man do--except help himself?_ [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, June 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Charlie Jingle walked into the long room with the long table and long Commissioners' faces in it. He went to a chair at the head of the table, and sat down, a small man in loose, seedy clothing looking rather lost in a high-backed chair with a regal crest carved in the wood. "You," asked one of the Commissioners, "are Charles Jingle?" Charlie nodded his head, a small nod from a small man sitting in a big man's chair. "You are aware of course ..." began the Commissioner, but Charlie Jingle waved his fingers and cut him off. "Sure, sure, let's can the bunko and get down to cases." "You have been summoned here ..." began the same Commissioner, and Charlie Jingle waved his fingers again. "But I ain't gonna anyway," said Charlie Jingle. The Commissioners stirred, cleared their throats, slid their bottoms with unease on their chairs. "You understand," said the Commissioner, "that your license may be revoked if you insist on being uncooperative?" "Sure," said Charlie Jingle. "I understand." A bulky man, who had been standing at a window with his back to the seated members of the Commission while they talked with Charlie, turned to face them. A man with a heavy, grey face that had no humor in it. Charlie Jingle watched him slowly cross to the table and recognized him as Commissioner Jergen, head of the Fight Commission. "Jingle," said the man in a dry voice, "I'm going to make an example of you if you don't come across. I'm going to smear your name from coast to coast. I'm going to blackball you so hard you won't get a job anyplace, at anything! Get the message?" Charlie Jingle got up from his chair and walked to the door. "This the way out?" he asked. "Hold on!" roared Commissioner Jergen, and Charlie Jingle stopped with his hand on the knob, looking back with polite inquisitiveness at him. "You goddam people think you can pull quick deals on the Public and on the Fight Commission. I'm here to prove you can't!" Charlie Jingle laughed. "You're here to make a big noise, and scare all the scrawny citizens into a confession, Jergen. Don't kid me!" "I suppose you've got too many contacts to be frightened?" "Contacts? No, I don't have a single damn contact. All I got is my two hands, and you already told me I ain't gonna be able to make a livin' with them, so why should I stick around here anymore?" Commissioner Jergen pulled a chair forward.