A RASCAL’S LUCK.
It was quite by accident that young Mr. Gale, son of the proprietor of
the _Chronicle_, learned of the _Bulletin’s_ contemplated exposé of
police conditions in Oldham. He happened to be passing police
headquarters just as Patrolman John Hicks, with whom he was acquainted,
came out of that building. One glance at the policeman’s scowling face
was sufficient to inform Gale that something was wrong.
“What’s the matter, John?” he inquired. “You look worried.”
“I am worried, Mr. Gale,” Patrolman Hicks replied. “Something happened
to me last night while I was on duty that has got my goat. Walk up the
street with me a little ways, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
Gale, scenting a possible story for the _Chronicle_, eagerly accepted
this invitation.
“It was shortly before two this morning,” Officer Hicks began. “I won’t
deny that I was taking a little nap. You see, Mr. Gale, night work don’t
agree with me at all. I think it’s an outrage to ask a human being to do
it.”
“Certainly,” Gale agreed heartily. “But what happened, John?”
“What happened was this, Mr. Gale: I was leaning against a lamp-post,
sort of dozing off--as I say, I’m not going to deny it--when all of a
sudden there comes a flash of light which hits me right in the eyes, and
a sort of explosion. Well, of course, I opens my eyes quick, and there,
right in front of me, is a big black automobile with three young fellers
in it. Before I can ask any questions, that automobile moves off rapidly
up the street and disappears.”
Gale was by no means a slow-witted young man. The probable origin of
that flash of light immediately suggested itself to him. There arose in
his mind also a suspicion of the identity of at least one of the three
occupants of the big black automobile.
“Didn’t one of those fellows have a camera in his hand, John?” he
inquired excitedly.
“I didn’t notice any camera at the time,” replied the policeman, with a
scowl; “but I guess they must have had one, all right. For, although I
never suspected it--otherwise you can be sure I’d have chased that
automobile--I have learned since that it was a flash-light picture of me
the rascals was after.”
“Of course it was,” said Gale, with a laugh. “How long did it take you
to get wise to that fact?”
“It was not until a few minutes ago that I found it out,” the policeman
admitted. “I thought at the time that that flash of light was caused by
a fuse blowin’ out in the car, or somethin’ of that sort. You see, I
don’t know much about automobiles. And I might have gone on thinking
that if it hadn’t been for me meetin’ Patrolman Tony Debbs at
headquarters just now, and his tellin’ me what happened to him last
night.”
“And what happened to Tony Debbs?” inquired Gale, greatly interested.
“He was taking a nap in a lumber yard on his beat, and first thing he
knows he gets woke up by a flash of light in his eyes--the same kind of
a flash that I got. Tony jumps up quick, and there was a young feller
standin’ there with a camera in his hand. Imagine the nerve of him!”
“Did Debbs catch him?” Gale inquired eagerly.
“No; he wasn’t quite quick enough. The scamp got away in a big black
touring car containing two other young men. From Tony’s description of
the automobile and the rascals inside, I’m pretty sure it was the same
bunch that I was up against.”
“Undoubtedly,” Gale agreed. “But do you mean to say, John, that neither
Debbs nor you recognized any of those fellows?”
“No; we didn’t. You see, they wore goggles--the kind that automobilists
wear, you know--and them things are pretty much of a disguise. Who do
you suppose those rascals was, Mr. Gale? And what do you think they
wanted our pictures for? I tell you, it’s got me worried. And Tony’s
worried, too. He’s got an idea that that rag of a _Bulletin_ is behind
it all. Do you think he’s right?”
“I certainly do, John,” Gale replied. “There isn’t the slightest doubt
in my mind that those pictures were taken for the _Bulletin_, and will
be prominently displayed on the front page of that disreputable sheet
to-morrow morning. And I shouldn’t be surprised,” he added sagaciously,
“to find other pictures there, too. You can depend upon it, John, that
you and Debbs weren’t the only cops those chaps caught napping last
night. The fact that they hired an automobile indicates that they were
out for a big killing.”
“The scoundrels!” growled Officer Hicks. “Surely, Mr. Gale, we can do
something to prevent them from printing our pictures in their newspaper?
Ain’t there any way of stopping them?”
A malicious glint came to Gale’s eyes. “Probably there is, John,” he
said. “We must see what we can do. Perhaps it will be possible not only
to prevent them from publishing the pictures, but to put them in jail,
besides, for violating the new anticamera law.”
As he finished speaking, his gaze lighted on a boy who was walking on
the opposite side of the street.
“Seems to me I know that kid,” said Gale. “He’s employed in the
_Bulletin_ office. My father pointed him out to me on the street the
other day as Carroll’s office boy.”
Then his face suddenly lighted up as an idea came to him.
“Excuse me for a few minutes, John,” he said to the policeman. “I’m
going to have a talk with our young friend across the way. I’ve got a
sort of hunch that he may be able to help us.”