The shrewd and energetic dealer in coins, whose little office stands at the exit from Charing Cross Station, proved quite willing to oblige the editor of the Evening Graphite with fifty sovereigns in exchange for the bit of paper, and the editor, handing to Miss Jennie the envelope containing the gold, saw her drive off for Brixton, while he turned, not to resume his game of dominoes at the café, but to his office, to write the leader which would express in good set terms the horror he felt at the action of the Board of Public Construction.
CHAPTER III. JENNIE INTERVIEWS A FRIGHTENED OFFICIAL
It was a little past seven oclock when Miss Baxters hansom drove up to the two-storeyed house in Rupert Square numbered 17. She knocked at the door, and it was speedily opened by a man with some trace of anxiety on his clouded face, who proved to be Hazel himself, the clerk at the Board of Public Construction. You are Mr. Hazel? she ventured, on entering.
Yes, replied the man, quite evidently surprised at seeing a lady instead of the man he was expecting at that hour; but I am afraid I shall have to ask you to excuse me; I am waiting for a visitor who is a few minutes late, and who may be here at any moment.
You are waiting for Mr. Alder, are you not?
Yes, stammered the man, his expression of surprise giving place to one of consternation.
Oh, well, that is all right, said Miss Jennie, reassuringly. I have just driven from the office of the Daily Bugle. Mr. Alder cannot come to-night.
Ah, said Hazel, closing the door. Then are you here in his place?
I am here instead of him. Mr. Alder is on other business that he had to attend to at the editors request. Now, Mr. Hardwickthats the editor, you know
Yes, I know, answered Hazel.
They were by this time seated in the front parlour.
Well, Mr. Hardwick is very anxious that the figures should be given with absolute accuracy.
Of course, that would be much better, cried the man; but, you see, I have gone thoroughly into the question with Mr. Alder already. He said he would mention what I told him to the editorput my position before him, in fact.
Oh, he has done so, said Miss Baxter, and did it very effectively indeed; in fact, your reasons are quite unanswerable. You fear, of course, that you will lose your situation, and that is very important, and no one in the Bugle office wishes you to suffer for what you have done. Of course, it is all in the public interest.
Of course, of course, murmured Hazel, looking down on the table.
Well, have you all the documents ready, so that they can be published at any time?
Quite ready, answered the man.
Very well, said the girl, with decision; here are your fifty pounds. Just count the money, and see that it is correct. I took the envelope as it was handed to me, and have not examined the amount myself.
She poured the sovereigns out on the table, and Hazel, with trembling fingers, counted them out two by two.
That is quite right, he said, rising. He went to a drawer, unlocked it, and took out a long blue envelope.
There, he said, with a sigh that was almost a gasp. There are the figures, and a full explanation of them. You will be very careful that my name does not slip out in any way.
Certainly, said Miss Jennie, coolly drawing forth the papers from their covering. No one knows your name except Mr. Alder, Mr. Hardwick, and myself; and I can assure you that I shall not mention it to anyone.
She glanced rapidly over the documents.
I shall just read what you have written, she said, looking up at him; and if there is anything here I do not understand you will, perhaps, be good enough to explain it now,and then I wont need to come here again.
Very well, said Hazel. The man had no suspicion that his visitor was not a member of the staff of the paper he had been negotiating with. She was so thoroughly self-possessed, and showed herself so familiar with all details which had been discussed by Alder and himself that not the slightest doubt had entered the clerks mind.
Jennie read the documents with great haste, for she knew she was running a risk in remaining there after seven oclock. It might be that Alder would come to Brixton to let the man know the result of his talk with the editor, or Mr. Hardwick himself might have changed his mind, and instructed his subordinate to secure the papers. Nevertheless, there was no sign of hurry in Miss Jennies demeanour as she placed the papers back in their blue envelope and bade the anxious Hazel good-bye.
Once more in the hansom, she ordered the man to drive her to Charing Cross, and when she was ten minutes away from Rupert Square she changed her direction and desired him to take her to the office of the Evening Graphite, where she knew Mr. Stoneham would be busy with his leading article, and probably impatiently awaiting further details of the conspiracy he was to lay open before the public. A light was burning in the editorial rooms of the office of the Evening Graphite, always a suspicious thing in such an establishment, and well calculated to cause the editor of any rival evening paper to tremble, should he catch a glimpse of burning gas in a spot where the work of the day should be finished at latest by five oclock. Light in the room of the evening journalist usually indicates that something important is on hand.
A glance at the papers Miss Baxter brought to him showed Mr. Stoneham that he had at least got the worth of his fifty pounds. There would be a fluttering in high places next day. He made arrangements before he left to have the paper issued a little earlier than was customary, calculating his time with exactitude, so that rival sheets could not have the news in their first edition, cribbed from the Graphite, and yet the paper would be on the street, with the newsboys shouting, Orrible scandal, before any other evening journal was visible. And this was accomplished the following day with a precision truly admirable.
Mr. Stoneham, with a craft worthy of all commendation, kept back from the early issue a small fraction of the figures that were in his possession, so that he might print them in the so-called fourth edition, and thus put upon the second lot of contentsbills sent out, in huge, startling black type, Further Revelations of the Board of Construction Scandal; and his scathing leading article, in which he indignantly demanded a Parliamentary inquiry into the conduct of the Board, was recognized, even by the friends of that public body, as having seriously shaken confidence in it. The reception of the news by the other evening papers was most flattering. One or two ignored it altogether, others alluded to it as a rumour, that it alleged so and so, and threw doubt on its truth, which was precisely what Mr. Stoneham wished them to do, as he was in a position to prove the accuracy of his statement.
Promptly, at five oclock that afternoon a hansom containing Miss Jennie Baxter drove up to the side entrance of the Daily Bugle office, and the young woman once more accosted the Irish porter, who again came out of his den to receive her.
Miss Baxter? said the Irishman, half by way of salutation, and half by way of inquiry. Yes, said the girl.
Well, Mr. Hardwick left strict orders with me that if ye came, or, rather, that whin ye came, I was to conduct ye right up to his room at once.
Oh, that is very satisfactory, cried Miss Jennie, and somewhat different from the state of things yesterday.
Indeed, and thats very true, said the porter, his voice sinking. To-day is not like yesterday at all, at all. Theres been great ructions in this office, mum; although what its about, fly away with me if I know. Theres been ruunin back and forrad, an a plentiful deal of language used. The proprietor himself has been here, an hes here now, an Mr. Alder came out a minute ago with his face as white as a sheet of paper. They do be sayin, added the porter, still further lowering his voice, and pausing on the stairway, that Mr. Hardwick is not goin to be the editor any more, but that Mr. Alder is to take his place. Anyway, as far as I can tell, Mr. Hardwick an Mr. Alder have had a fine fall out, an one or other of them is likely to leave the paper.
Oh, dear, oh, dear! said Miss Jennie, also pausing on the stairs. Is it so serious as all that?
Indeed it is, mum, an we none of us know where were standin, at all, at all.
The porter led the way to Mr. Hardwicks room, and announced the visitor.
Ask her to come in, she heard the editor say, and the next instant the porter left them alone together.
Wont you sit down, Miss Baxter? said Mr. Hardwick, with no trace of that anger in his voice which she had expected. I have been waiting for you. You said you would be here at five, and I like punctuality. Without beating round the bush, I suppose I may take it for granted that the Evening Graphite is indebted to you for what it is pleased to call the Board of Public Construction scandal?
Yes, said the young woman, seating herself; I came up to tell you that I procured for the Graphite that interesting bit of information.
So I supposed. My colleague, Henry Alder, saw Hazel this afternoon at the offices of the Board. The good man Hazel is panic-stricken at the explosion he has caused, and is in a very nervous state of mind, more especially when he learned that his documents had gone to an unexpected quarter. Fortunately for him, the offices of the Board are thronged with journalists who want to get statements from this man or the other regarding the exposure, and so the visit of Alder to Hazel was not likely to be noticed or commented upon. Hazel gave a graphic description of the handsome young woman who had so cleverly wheedled the documents from him, and who paid him the exact sum agreed upon in the exact way that it was to have been paid. Alder had not seen you, and has not the slightest idea how the important news slipped through his fingers; but when he told me what had happened, I knew at once you were the goddess of the machine, therefore I have been waiting for you. May I be permitted to express the opinion that you didnt play your cards at all well, Miss Baxter?
No? I think I played my cards very much better than you played yours, you know.
Oh, I am not instituting any comparison, and am not at all setting myself up as a model of strategy. I admit that, having the right cards in my hands, I played them exceedingly badly; but then, you understand, I thought I was sure of an exclusive bit of news.
No news is exclusive, Mr. Hardwick, until it is printed, and out in the streets, and the other papers havent got it.
That is very true, and has all the conciseness of an adage. I would like to ask, Miss Baxter, how much the Graphite paid you for that article over and above the fifty pounds you gave to Hazel?
Oh! it wasnt a question of money with me; the subject hasnt even been discussed. Mr. Stoneham is not a generous paymaster, and that is why I desire to get on a paper which does not count the cost too closely. What I wished to do was to convince you that I would be a valuable addition to the Bugle staff; for you seemed to be of opinion that the staff was already sufficient and complete.
Oh, my staff is not to blame in this matter; I alone am to blame in being too sure of my ground, and not realizing the danger of delay in such a case. But if you had brought the document to me, you would have found me by far your best customer. You would have convinced me quite as effectually as you have done now that you are a very alert young woman, and I certainly would have been willing to give you four or five times as much as the Graphite will be able to pay.
To tell the truth, I thought of that as I stood here yesterday, but I saw you were a very difficult man to deal with or to convince, and I dared not take the risk of letting you know I had the news. You might very easily have called in Mr. Alder, told him that Hazel had given up the documents, and sent him flying to Brixton, where very likely the clerk has a duplicate set. It would have been too late to get the sensation into any other morning paper, and, even if it were not too late, you would have had something about the sensation in the Bugle, and so the victory would not have been as complete as it is now. No, I could not take such a risk. I thought it all out very carefully.
You credit us with more energy, Miss Baxter, than we possess. I can assure you that if you had come here at ten or eleven oclock with the documents, I should have been compelled to purchase them from you. However, that is all past and done with, and there is no use in our saying anything more about it. I am willing to take all the blame for our defeat on my shoulders, but there are some other things I am not willing to do, and perhaps you are in a position to clear up a little misunderstanding that has arisen in this office. I suppose I may take it for granted that you overheard the conversation which took place between Mr. Alder and myself in this room yesterday afternoon?
Well, said Miss Baxter, for the first time in some confusion, I can assure you that I did not come here with the intention of listening to anything. I came into the next room by myself for the purpose of getting to see you as soon as possible. While not exactly a member of the staff of the Evening Graphite, that paper nevertheless takes about all the work I am able to do, and so I consider myself bound to keep my eyes and ears open on its behalf wherever I am.
Oh, I dont want to censure you at all, said Hardwick; I merely wish to be certain how the thing was done. As I said, I am willing to take the blame entirely on my own shoulders. I dont think I should have made use of information obtained in that way myself; still, I am not venturing to find fault with you for doing so.
To find fault with me! cried Miss Jennie somewhat warmly, that would be the pot calling the kettle black indeed. Why, what better were you? You were bribing a poor man to furnish you with statistics, which he was very reluctant to let you have; yet you overcame his scruples with money, quite willing that he should risk his livelihood, so long as you got the news. If you ask me, I dont see very much difference in our positions, and I must say that if two men take the risk of talking aloud about a secret, with a door open leading to another room, which may be empty or may be not, then they are two very foolish persons.
Oh, quite so, quite so, answered Hardwick soothingly. I have already disclaimed the critical attitude. The point I wish to be sure of is thisyou overheard the conversation between Alder and myself?
Yes, I did.
Would you be able to repeat it?
I dont know that I could repeat it word for word, but I could certainly give the gist of it.