The Penny Parker Megapack: 15 Complete Novels (208 page)

“Oh, a week. I’ve mostly kept going on pancakes. But it’s my own funeral. I could have had jobs of a sort if I had been willing to take them.”

Penny gave her order to the waitress, taking double what she really wanted so that her companion would not feel backward about placing a similar order. Then she said:

“Ben, you remarked awhile ago that you can’t get a newspaper job anywhere.”

“That’s true. I’m blacklisted.”

“Did you try my father’s paper, the
Star
?”

“I did. I couldn’t even get past his secretary.”

“That’s not like Dad,” Penny said with troubled eyes. “Did you really do something dreadful?”

“It was Jason Cordell who put the bee on me.”

“Jason Cordell?” Penny repeated thoughtfully. “He’s the editor of the
Mirror
, and has an office in the building adjoining the
Star
.”

“Right. Well, he fired me.”

“Lots of reporters are discharged, Ben, but they aren’t necessarily blacklisted.”

Ben squirmed uncomfortably in his chair.

“You needn’t tell me if you don’t wish,” Penny said kindly. “I don’t mean to pry into your personal affairs. I only thought that I might be able to help you.”

“I want to tell you, Penny. I really do. But I don’t dare reveal some of the facts, because I haven’t sufficient proof. I’ll tell you this much. I stumbled into a story—a big one—and it discredited Jason Cordell.”

“You didn’t publish it?”

“Naturally not.” Ben laughed shortly. “I doubt if any newspaper would touch it with a ten-foot pole. Cordell is supposed to be one of our substantial, respectable citizens.”

“Actually?”

“He’s as dishonorable as they come.”

Knowing that Ben was bitter because of his discharge, Penny discredited some of the remarks, but she waited expectantly for him to continue. A waitress brought the dinner, and for awhile, as the reporter ate ravenously, he had little to say.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” he finally apologized. “I haven’t tasted such fine food in a year! Now what is it you want to know, Penny? I’m in a mood to tell almost anything.”

“What was this scandal you uncovered about Mr. Cordell?”

“That’s the one thing I can’t reveal, but it concerned the owner of the Conway Steel Plant. They’re bitter enemies you know.”

Penny had not known, and the information interested her greatly.

“Did you talk it over with Mr. Cordell?” she asked.

“That was the mistake I made.” Ben slowly stirred his coffee. “Cordell didn’t have much to say, but the next thing I knew, I was out of a job and on the street.”

“Are you sure that was why he discharged you?”

“What else?”

Penny hesitated, not wishing to hurt Ben’s feelings. There were several things she had heard about him—that he was undependable and that he drank heavily.

“Most of the things you’ve been told about me aren’t true,” Ben said quietly, reading her thoughts. “Jason Cordell started a lot of stories intended to discredit me. He told editors that I had walked off a job and left an important story uncovered. He pictured me as a drunkard and a trouble maker.”

“I’ll talk to my father,” Penny promised. “As short as the
Star
is of employes, I’m sure there must be a place for you.”

“You’re swell,” Ben said feelingly. “But I’m not asking for charity. I’ll get along.”

Refusing to talk longer about himself, he told Penny of amusing happenings along the waterfront. After dessert had been finished, she slipped a bill into his hand, and they left the restaurant.

Outside, the streets were dark, for in this section of the city, lights were few and far between. Ben offered to escort Penny back to the
Star
office or wherever she wished to go.

“This isn’t too safe a part of the city for a girl,” he declared. “Especially after night.”

“All the same, to me the waterfront is the most fascinating part of Riverview,” Penny declared. “You seem to know this part of town well, Ben.”

“I should. I’ve lived here for the past six months.”

“You have a room?”

“I’ll show you where I live,” Ben offered. “Wait until we reach the next corner.”

They walked on along the river docks, passing warehouses and vessels tied up at the wharves. Twice they passed guards who gazed at them with intent scrutiny. However, Ben was recognized, and with a friendly salute, the men allowed him to pass unchallenged.

“The waterfront is strictly guarded now,” the reporter told Penny. “Even so, plenty goes on here that shouldn’t.”

“Meaning?”

Ben did not answer for they had reached the corner. Beyond, on a vacant lot which Penny suspected might also be a dumping ground, stood three or four dilapidated shacks.

“See the third one,” Ben indicated. “Well, that’s my little mansion.”

“Oh, Ben!”

“It’s not bad inside. A little cold when the wind blows through the chinks, but otherwise, fairly comfortable.”

“Ben, haven’t you any friends or relatives?”

“Not here. I thought I had a few friends, but they dropped me like a hot potato when I ran into trouble.”

“This is no life for you, Ben. I’ll certainly talk to my father tomorrow.”

Ben smiled and said nothing. From his silence, Penny gathered that he had no faith she would be able to do anything for him.

They walked on, and as they approached a small freighter tied up at the wharf, Ben pointed it out.

“That’s the
Snark
,” he informed her.

The name meant nothing to Penny. “Who owns her?” she inquired carelessly.

“I wish I knew, Penny. There’s plenty goes on aboard that vessel, but it’s strictly hush-hush. I have my suspicions that—”

Ben suddenly broke off, for several men had appeared on the deck of the
Snark
. The vessel was some distance away, and in the darkness only shadowy forms were visible.

Seizing Penny’s arm, Ben pulled her flat against a warehouse.

Amazed by his action, she started to protest. Then she understood. Aboard the
Snark
there was some sort of disturbance or disagreement. The men, although speaking in low, almost inaudible tones, were arguing. Penny caught only one phrase: “Heave him overboard!”

“Ben, what’s happening there?” she whispered anxiously.

“Don’t know!” he answered. “But nothing good.”

“Where are the guards?”

“Probably at the far end of their beats.”

Aboard the
Snark
, there was a brief scuffle, as someone was dragged across the deck to the rail.

“That’ll teach you!” they heard one of the men mutter.

Then the helpless victim was raised and dropped over the rail. Shrieking in terror, he fell with a great splash into the inky waters. Frantically, he began to struggle.

“Those fiends!” Penny cried. “They deliberately threw the man overboard, and he can’t swim!”

CHAPTER 7

MAN OVERBOARD!

Penny and Ben ran to the edge of the dock, peering into the dark, oily waters. On the deck of the
Snark
there was a murmur of voices, then silence.

Casting a quick glance upward, Penny was angered to see that the men who had been standing there had vanished into a cabin or companionway. Obviously, they had no intention of trying to aid the unfortunate man.

“There he is!” Ben exclaimed, suddenly catching another glimpse of the bobbing head. “About done in too!”

Kicking off his shoes and stripping off his coat, the reporter dived from the dock. He struck the water with an awkward splash, but Penny was relieved to see that he really could swim well. He struck out for the drowning man, but before he could reach him, the fellow slipped quietly beneath the surface.

Close by were two barges lashed together, and the current would take a body in that direction. Ben jack-knifed and went down into the inky waters in a surface dive. Unable to find the man, he came up, filled his lungs in a noisy gulp, and went down again. He was under such a long time that Penny became frantic with anxiety.

She decided to turn in an alarm for the city rescue squad. But before she could act, Ben surfaced again, and this time she saw that he held the other man by the hair.

As Ben slowly towed the fellow toward the dock, Penny realized that she must find some way to get them both out of the river. She could expect no help from anyone aboard the
Snark
. Gazing upward again, she thought she saw a man watching her from the vessel’s bow, but as her gaze focused upon him, he retreated into deeper shadow, beyond view.

No guards were anywhere near, and the entire waterfront seemed deserted. Penny’s eyes fastened upon a rope which hung loosely over a dock post. It was long enough to serve her purpose, and finding it unattached, she hurled one end toward Ben.

He caught it on the second try and made a loop fast about the body of the man he towed. Penny then pulled them both to the dock.

“You can’t haul us up,” Ben instructed from below. “Just hold on, and I think I can get out of here by myself.”

He swam off in the darkness and was lost to view. Penny clung desperately to the rope, knowing that if she relaxed for an instant, the man, already half drowned, would submerge for good. Her arms began to ache. It seemed to her she could not hold on another instant.

Then Ben, his clothes plastered to his thin body, came running across the planks.

Without a word he seized the rope, and together they raised the man to the dock. In the darkness Penny saw only that he was slender, and in civilian clothes.

Stretching him out on the dock boards, they prepared to give artificial resuscitation. But it was unnecessary. For at the first pressure on his back, the man rolled over and muttered: “Cut it out. I’m okay.”

Then he lay still, exhausted, but breathing evenly.

“You were lucky to get him, Ben,” Penny said as she knelt beside the stranger. “If the current had carried him beneath those barges, he never would have been taken out alive.”

“I had to dive deep,” Ben admitted. “Found him plastered right against the side of the first barge. Yeah, I was lucky, and so is he.”

The man stirred again, and sat up. Penny tried to support him, but he moved away, revealing that he wanted no help.

“Who pushed you overboard?” Ben asked.

The man stared at him and did not answer.

Observing that Ben was shivering from cold, and that the stranger too was severely chilled, Penny proposed calling either the rescue squad or an ambulance.

“Not on your life,” muttered the rescued man, trying to get up. “I’m okay, and I’m getting out of here.”

With Ben’s help, he managed to struggle to his feet, but they buckled under him when he tried to walk.

The man looked surprised.

“We’ll have to call the rescue squad,” Penny decided firmly.

“I have a better idea,” Ben supplied. “We can take him to my shack.”

Penny thought that the man should have hospital treatment. However, he sided with Ben, insisting he could walk to the nearby shack.

“I’m okay,” he repeated again. “All I need is some dry clothes.”

Supported on either side, the man managed to walk to the shack. Ben unlatched the door and hastily lighting an oil lamp, helped the fellow to the bed where he collapsed.

“Ben, I think we should have a doctor—” Penny began again, but Ben silenced her with a quick look.

Drawing her to the door he whispered: “Let him have his way. He’s not badly off, and he has reason for not wanting anyone to know what happened. If we call the rescue squad or a doctor, he’ll have to answer to a lot of questions.”

“There are some things I’d like to know myself.”

“We’ll get the answers if we’re patient. Now stay outside for a minute or two until I can get his clothes changed, and into dry ones myself.”

Penny stepped outside the shack. A chill wind blew from the direction of the river, but with its freshness was blended the disagreeable odor of factory smoke, fish houses and dumpings of refuse.

“Poor Ben!” she thought. “He never should be living in such a place as this! No matter what he’s done, he deserves another chance.”

Exactly what she believed about the reporter, Penny could not have said. His courageous act had aroused her deep admiration. On the other hand, she was aware that his story regarding Jason Cordell might have been highly colored to cover his own shortcomings.

Within a few minutes Ben opened the door to let her in again. The stranger had been put to bed in a pair of the reporter’s pajamas which were much too small for him. In the dim light from the oil lamp, she saw that he had a large, square-shaped face, with a tiny scar above his right eye. It was not a pleasant face. Gazing at him, Penny felt a tiny chill pass over her.