“I congratulate you, my boy,” he said warmly. “You are right; your idea is a winner. Your cleverness may save you from a term in jail. I am more confident now as to the outcome of this case. “Be sure not to mention a word about this to a living soul,” he went on, with a chuckle. “I want to spring it as a surprise. Whenever you meet any of Coggswell’s bunch, pretend to be overwhelmed with despair. Make those fellows think that you are on the verge of a breakdown as a result of brooding over your impending fate. That will make the shock all the greater when we spring our little surprise on them in court.” Thus it happened that when, the following day, Jake Hines, on his way to the headquarters of the Samuel J. Coggswell Association, encountered Owen on the street, the latter looked so worried and cast down that Jake almost felt sorry for him. Hines stepped into Boss Coggswell’s private office at the clubhouse a few minutes later, and told his chief about the meeting. “That fellow looks like a ghost, governor,” he declared. “He’s scared stiff. I almost think that if he had the price of a steamship ticket he’d skip his bail and beat it.” Boss Coggswell waxed thoughtful at this remark. “Do you know, Jake, that isn’t at all a bad idea,” he said. “I refer to the suggestion you just made about the young man skipping his bail. If I thought that he could really be persuaded to do that I almost think I’d prefer to have things turn out that way. I have no desire to see the fellow sent to prison. If he became a fugitive from justice, it would suit our purpose just as well, it seems to me. All we want is to have him so utterly discredited that he’ll be unable to do us any injury.” Coggswell had already used his political influence to have the trials of Carriers Greene and Tom Hovey for tampering with Judge Lawrence’s mail put down at the bottom of the court calendar. His object in doing this, of course, was to have Owen Sheridan’s case disposed of before these other cases came up for trial, so that the young man would be unable to implicate him--Coggswell--by telling what he knew about the conspiracy to pry into the ex-judge’s private correspondence. “Yes,” the boss went on, his ears wiggling rapidly as he spoke, “I almost think I’d prefer to have young Sheridan run away. It almost breaks my heart to think of a nice young man like him having to go to jail. He has tried to injure me, ’tis true, but I hope I am not vindictive, Jake--I certainly hope I am not vindictive. If I thought that it was only the lack of the price of a steamship ticket which prevented him from leaving the United States, I think I’d loan him the money, Jake--yes, indeed!”