§ 24
Peter went to see Andrews, the lawyer, and asked
for a job; he wanted to be active in the case, he said, so he was set to
work in the offices of the Defense Committee, where he heard people
talking about the case all day, and he could pick up no end of valuable
tips. He made himself agreeable and gained friends; before long he was
intimate with one of the best witnesses of the defense, and discovered
that this man had once been named as co-respondent in a divorce case.
Peter found out the name of the woman, and Guffey set to work to bring
her to American City. The job was to be done cleverly, without the
woman's even knowing that she was being used. She would have a little
holiday, and the spell of old love would reassert itself, and Guffey
would have a half dozen men to spring the trap — and there would be a
star witness of the Goober defense clean down and out! "There's always
something you can get them on!" said McGivney, and cheerfully paid Peter
Gudge five hundred dollars for the information he had brought.
Peter would have been wildly happy, but just at this moment a
dreadful calamity befell him. Jennie had been talking about marriage
more and more, and now she revealed to him a reason which made marriage
imperative. She revealed it with downcast eyes, with blushes and
trembling; and Peter was so overcome with consternation that he could
not play the part that was expected of him. Hitherto in these love
crises he had caught Jennie in his arms and comforted her; but now for a
moment he let her see his real emotions.
Jennie promptly had a fit. What was the matter with him? Didn't
he mean to marry her, as he had promised? Surely he must realize now
that they could no longer
delay! And Peter, who was not familiar with the symptoms of hysterics,
lost his head completely and could think of nothing to do but rush out
of the house and slam the door.
The more he considered it, the more clearly he realized that he
was in the devil of a predicament. As a servant of the Traction Trust,
he had taken it for granted that he was immune to all legal penalties
and obligations; but here, he had a feeling, was a trouble from which
the powerful ones of the city would be unable to shield their agent.
Were they able to arrange it so that one could marry a girl, and then
get out of it when one's job was done?
Peter was so uneasy that he had to call up the office of Guffey
and get hold of McGivney. This was dangerous, because the prosecution
was tapping telephone wires, and they feared the defense might be doing
the same. But Peter took a chance; he told McGivney to come and meet him
at the usual place; and there they argued the matter out, and Peter's
worst fears were confirmed. When he put the proposition up to McGivney,
the rat-faced man guffawed in his face. He found it so funny that he did
not stop laughing until he saw that he was putting his spy into a rage.
"What's the joke?" demanded Peter. "If I'm ruined,
where'll you get any more information?"
"But, my God!" said McGivney. "What did you have
to go and get that kind of a girl for?"
"I had to take what I could," answered Peter. "Besides,
they're all alike — they get into trouble, and you can't
help it."
"Sure, you can help it!" said McGivney. "Why didn't
you ask long ago? Now if you've got yourself tied up with
a marrying proposition, it's your own lookout; you can't
put it off on me."
They argued back and forth. The rat-faced man was positive that
there was no way Peter could pretend to marry Jennie and not have the
marriage count. He might get himself into no end of trouble and
certainly he would be ruined as a spy. What he must do was to pay the
girl some money and send her somewhere to get fixed up. McGivney would
find out the name of a doctor to do the job.
"Yes, but what excuse can I give her?" cried Peter. "I
mean, why I don't marry her!"
"Make something up," said McGivney. "Why not have
a wife already?" Then, seeing Peter's look of dismay:
"Sure, you can fix that. I'll get you one, if you need her.
But you won't have to take that trouble — just tell your
girl a hard luck story. You've got a wife, you thought you
could get free from her, but now you find you can't; your
wife's got wind of what you're doing here, and she's trying
to blackmail you. Fix it up so your girl can't do anything
on account of hurting the Goober defense. If she's
really sincere about it, she won't disgrace you; maybe she
won't even tell her sister."
Peter hated to do anything like that. He had a vision
of little Jennie lying on the sofa in hysterics as he had left
her, and he dreaded the long emotional scene that would be
necessary. However, it seemed that he must go thru with
it; there was no better way that he could think of. Also,
he must be quick, because in a couple of hours Sadie would
be coming home from work, and it might be too late.
