Section 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.
