have one hundred replies on the first day. I knew it was foolish to run

it for three days, but the fellow insisted that that was the proper way

to do, as I got a lower rate.

"By taking it for three days, however, it doesn't seem right to make so

many busy men waste their time answering the ad when I shall doubtless

find a satisfactory position the first day."

CHAPTER III.

THE LIZARD.

That night Jimmy attended a show, and treated himself to a lonely dinner

afterward. He should have liked very much to have looked up some of his

friends. A telephone call would have brought invitations to dinner and a

pleasant evening with convivial companions, but he had mapped his course

and he was determined to stick to it to the end.

"There will be plenty of time," he thought, "for amusement after I have

gotten a good grasp of my new duties." Jimmy elected to walk from the

theater to his hotel, and as he was turning the corner from Randolph

into La Salle a young man jostled him. An instant later the stranger was

upon his knees, his wrist doubled suddenly backward and very close to

the breaking-point.

"Wot t' hell yuh doin'?" he screamed.

"Pardon me," replied Jimmy: "you got your hand in the wrong pocket. I

suppose you meant to put it in your own, but you didn't."

"Aw, g'wan; lemme go," pleaded the stranger. "I didn't get nuthin'--

you ain't got the goods on me."

Now, such a tableau as Jimmy and his new acquaintance formed cannot be

staged at the corner of Randolph and La Salle beneath an arc light, even

at midnight, without attracting attention. And so it was that before

<<BackPagesTo menuNext>>