That he, Errol Banneker, whose dealings with all men had been on the
straight and level status of self-respect, should have taken upon him
the ignoble task of prying into intimate affairs, of meekly cheap nfl bay packer jerseys
soliciting the most private information in order that he might make his
living out of it--not different in kind from the mendicancy which, even
as a hobo, he had scorned--and that, at the end, he should have
discerned Io Welland as the object of his scandal-chase; that fermented
within him like something turned to foulness. At the office he reported
"no story." Before going home he wrote a note to the city desk. Part 1
Chapter 11 Impenetrability of expression is doubtless a valuable
attribute to a joss. Otherwise so many josses would not display it. Upon
the stony and placid visage of Mr. Greenough, never more joss-like than
when, on the morning after Banneker went to The Retreat, he received
the resultant note, the perusal thereof produced no effect. Nor was
there anything which might justly be called an expression, discernible
between Mr. Greenough's cloven chin-tip and Mr. Greenough's pale fringe
of hair, when, as Banneker entered the office at noon, he called the
reporter to him. Banneker's face, on the contrary, displayed a quite
different impression; that of amiability. "Nothing in the Eyre story,
Mr. Banneker!" "Not a thing." "You saw Mr. Densmore?" "Yes, sir." "Would
he talk?" "Yes; he made a statement." "It didn't cheap nfl bills jerseys
appear in the paper." "There was nothing to it but unqualified denial."
"I see; I see. That's all, Mr. Banneker.... Oh, by the way." Banneker,
who had set out for his desk, turned back. "I had a note from you this
morning." As this statement required no confirmation, Banneker gave it
none. "Containing your resignation." "Conditional upon my being assigned
to pry into society or private scandals or rumors of them." "The Ledger
does not recognize conditional resignation." "Very well." Banneker's
smile was as sunny and untroubled as a baby's. "I suppose you appreciate
that some one must cover this kind of news." "Yes. It will have to be
some one else." The faintest, fleetingcheap nfl saints jerseys
suspicion of a frown troubled the Brahminical calm of Mr. Greenough's
brow, only to pass into unwrinkled blandness. "Further, you will
recognize that, for the protection of the paper, I must have at call
reporters ready to perform any emergency duty." "Perfectly," agreed
Banneker. "Mr. Banneker," queried Mr. Greenough in a semi-purr, "are you
too good for your job?" "Certainly." For once the personification of
city-deskness, secure though he was in the justice of his position, was
discomfited. "Too good for The Ledger?" he demanded in protest and
rebuke. "Let me put it this way; I'm too good for any job that won't let
me look a man square between the eyes when I meet him on it." "A dull
lot of newspapers we'd www.neworleanssaintsjerseys-shop.com
have if all reporters took that view," muttered Mr. Greenough. "It
strikes me that what you've just said is the severest kind of an
indictment of the whole business, then," retorted Banneker. "A business
that is good enough for a good many first-class men, even though you may
not consider it so for you. Possibly being for the time--for a brief
time--a sort of public figure, yourself, has--" "Nothing at all to do
with it," interrupted the urbane reporter. "I've always been this way.
It was born in me." "I shall consult with Mr. Gordon aboutdarren sharper jersey
this," said Mr. Greenough, becoming joss-like again. "I hardly think--"
But what it was that he hardly thought, the subject of his
animadversions did not then or subsequently ascertain, for he was
dismissed in the middle of the sentence with a slow, complacent nod.
Loss of his place, had it promptly followed, would not have dismayed the
rebel. It did not follow. Nothing followed. Nothing, that is, out of
the ordinary run. Mr. Gordon said no word. Mr. Greenough made no
reference to the resignation. Tommy Burt, to whom Banneker had confided
his action, was of opinion that the city desk was merely waiting "to
hand you something so raw that you'll have to buck it; something that
not even Joe Bullen would take." Joe Bullen, an undertaker's assistant
who had drifted into journalism through being a tipster, was The
Ledger'smark ingram jersey
"keyhole reporter" (unofficial). "The joss is just tricky enough for
that," said Tommy. "He'll want to put you in the wrong with Gordon.
You're a pet of the boss's." "Don't blame Greenough," said Banneker. "If
you were on the desk you wouldn't want reporters that wouldn't take
orders." Van Cleve, oldest in standing of any of the staff, approached
Banneker with a grave face and solemn warnings. To leave The Ledger was
to depart forever from the odor of journalistic sanctity. No other
office in town was endurable for a gentleman. Other editors treated
their men like muckers. The worst assignment given out from The Ledger
desk was a perfumed cinch in comparison with what the average city room
dealt out. And he gave a formidable sketch of the careers (invariably
downhill) of reckless souls who had forsaken the true light of The
Ledger for the false lures which led into outer and unfathomable
darkness. By this system of subtly threatened excommunication had The
Ledger saved to itself many a good man drew brees jersey
who might otherwise have gone farther and not necessarily fared worse.
Banneker was not frightened. But he did give more than a thought to the
considerate standards and generous comradeship of the office. Only--was
it worth the price in occasional humiliation?
