aid the blackmail with trembling hands, and when the patrolman was out
of sight around the corner I ran to reach my boarding place, intent only
upon flight, instant and secret, from this moral cesspool of a city. I
remembered that there was a westbound train passing through at midnight,
and by hurrying I hoped to be able to catch it.

V

The Downward Path

I had left the board money and a note for my landlady on the mantel in
the darkened dining-room, had reached the railroad station, and was
about to buy a ticket to the farthest corner of the State, when I
suddenly remembered that I was running away with an additional handicap
to be added to all the others. Leaving the coal company and the city
without notice or explanation, I was making it impossible to keep my
record clear in the monthly report to the prison authorities.

With a sinking heart I realized that I must wait and fight it out with
Mullins to some sort of a conclusion which would give me a clean slate.
There must be nothing that I could not explain clearly to any one who
might ask. I had a job, and I must be able to give my reason for
quitting it. With this new entanglement to put leaden shoes on my
feet, I retraced my steps through the eight weary blocks to the
boarding-house, dodging through back streets and walking because I
hadn't the nerve to face the cheerful throng of theater-goers at that
hour crowding the street-cars.

I think Mullins knew or suspected what was coming when I went to him
the next morning and told him I wished to have a talk with him.
Without a word he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the little
private office which was used at odd times by the district manager.

"I'm quitting this morning, Mr. Mullins," I began, when the door was
shut. "If my work has been satisfactory, I should like to have a
letter of recommendation."

The bookkeeper smoked a corn-cob pipe, and he stopped to refill and
light it before he opened on me.

"What's wrong?" he demanded. For an Irishman he was always exceedingly
sparing of his words.

"Suppose we say that the climate doesn't agree with me here."

"You're no sick man!" he shot back; and then: "Want more pay?"

"No; I want a letter of recommendation."

"We never give 'em."

"So I have heard. But this time, Mr. Mullins, you are going to make an
exception and break your rule."

"Not for you, we won't."

"Why not for me?"

"Because we're knowing your record. You're