Chicago (Ill.) -- Fiction; College graduates -- Fiction; Gangsters -- Fiction
"He ought to know about this," said Compton. "Wait; I'll have him in,"
and he pressed a button on his desk. A moment later Jimmy entered, and
Compton showed him the note.
"What do you think of it?" asked Compton.
"I doubt if it amounts to much," replied Jimmy. "The men have no
grievance. It may be the work of some fellow who was afraid of his job,
but I doubt if it really emanates from any organized scheme of
intimidation. If I were you, sir, I would simply ignore it."
To Jimmy's surprise, Bince agreed with him. It was the first time that
Bince had agreed with anything Jimmy had suggested.
"Very well," assented Compton, "but we'll preserve this bit of evidence
in case we may need it later," and he handed the slip of paper to Edith
Hudson. "File this, please, Miss Hudson," he said; and then, turning to
Bince:
"It may be nothing, but I don't like the idea of it. There is apt to be
something underlying this, or even if it is only a single individual and
he happens to be a crank he could cause a lot of trouble. Suppose, for
instance, one of these crack-brained foreigners in the shop got it into
his head that Torrance here was grinding him down in order to increase
our profits? Why, he might attack him at any time! I tell you, we have
got to be prepared for such a contingency, especially now that we have
concrete evidence that there is such a man in our employ. I think you
ought to be armed, Mr. Torrance. Have you a pistol?"
Jimmy shook his head negatively.
"No, sir," he said; "not here."
Compton opened a desk drawer.
"Take this one," he said, and handed Jimmy an automatic.
The latter smiled. "Really, Mr. Compton," he said, "I don't believe I
need such an article."
"I want you to take it," insisted Compton. "I want you to be on the
safe side."
A moment later Bince and Jimmy left the office together. Jimmy still
carried the pistol in his hand.
"You'd better put that thing in your pocket," cautioned Bince.
They were in the small office on which Compton's and Bince's offices
opened, and Jimmy had stopped beside the desk that had been placed there
for him.
"I think I'll leave it here," he said. "The thing would be a nuisance in
my pocket," and he dropped it into one of the desk drawers, while Bince
continued his way toward the shop.
Compton was looking through the papers and letters on his desk,
evidently searching for something which he could not find, while the
girl sat waiting for him to continue his dictation.
"That's funny," commented Compton.
"I was certain that that letter was here. Have you seen anything of a
letter from Mosher?"
"No, sir," replied Edith.
"Well, I wish you would step into Mr. Bince's office, and see if it is
on his desk."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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