Air pilots -- Juvenile fiction; Mystery and detective stories; Reporters and reporting -- Juvenile fiction
The policeman followed. By this time he had found his tongue. He seemed
pleased with Jimmy’s interest. “The worst looking room is over here,” he
said, and he led the way through a corridor filled with debris. The
plaster had been blown from the ceiling, the walls were torn and broken,
the window-glass was blown out, furniture was smashed and splintered,
and the entire room was in a state of the utmost confusion.
“Stand right there,” said Jimmy, posing his victim before a shattered
and bulging section of wall. Then he snapped his picture before the
policeman could protest.
“I believe I can get some better pictures up here than any I have,” said
Jimmy, and he took several pictures that perfectly portrayed the havoc
wrought by the explosion.
“I must get back to my post,” said the policeman, suddenly remembering
that he was supposed to be guarding the front door.
Jimmy’s heart fell. He thought he was about to be ordered out of the
building. But he was equal to the occasion.
“You won’t be leaving the place for a while, will you?” he asked. “I
want to talk to you. I’ll look you up at the front door just as soon as
I get another picture or two.”
The policeman hesitated. He glanced at Jimmy’s police pass, and though
he had been ordered to keep everybody out of the building except
policemen, firemen, and hospital employees, he allowed Jimmy to remain,
while he himself returned to guard the front door. Doubtless he thought
that the damage was already done, and that it would do no harm if Jimmy
did get another picture or two. As for Jimmy, the moment the policeman’s
back was turned he scurried higher up in the wrecked building and took
picture after picture.
His remark about the policeman’s bravery had been a shot in the dark.
Jimmy hadn’t any idea whether the man had been present during the
disaster or not. But he knew the weakness most folks have for wishing to
appear like heroes, and he knew that policemen are no exception to the
rule. As luck would have it, this policeman had actually had a share in
the work of rescue. Jimmy found that out when he hurried back to the
front door after getting all the pictures he wanted.
“Please spell your name for me,” he said, as the policeman turned to
greet him. “I want to be sure I get it right.”
“L-a-f-f-e-r-t-y—Dennis Lafferty,” the policeman spelled out, a letter
at a time.
“That’s fine,” said Jimmy. “I just hate to get a man’s name wrong. And
I’d hate mighty bad to get yours wrong after all the fine work you did.”
Jimmy could see the man swelling with pride.
“I only did my duty,” he said.
“Tell me about it,” urged Jimmy. “Maybe the fellow who told me about it
didn’t have the story straight.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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