"Oh, you are, eh?" he snorts. "Another bomb-proofer! Well, tell Mr.
Ellins I shall be back at 11:15--if this sector hasn"t been captured in the meantime," and as he double-quicks out he near runs down Mr. Piddie, our rubber-stamp office manager, who has towed him in.
As for me, I stands there swallowin" air bubbles until my red-haired disposition got below the boiling point once more. Then I turns to Piddie.
"You heard, didn"t you?" says I.
Piddie nods. "But I don"t quite understand," says he. "What did he mean by--er--bomb-proofer?"
"Just rank flattery, Piddie," says I. "The rankest kind. It"s his way of indicatin" that I"m a yellow dog hidin" under a roll-top desk for fear someone"ll kick me out where a parlor Pomeranian will look cross at me.
Excuse me if I don"t seem to work up a blush. Fact is, though, I"m gettin" kind of used to it."
"Oh, I say, though!" protests Piddie. "Why, everyone knows that you----"
"That"s where you"re dead wrong, Piddie," I breaks in. "What everybody really knows is that while most of the young hicks who"ve been Plattsburged into uniforms are already across Periscope Pond helpin"
swat the Hun, I"m still floatin" around here with nothing worse than car dust on my tailor-built khaki. Why, even them bold Liberty bond patriots who commute on the 8:03 are tired of asking me when I"m going to be sent over to tell Pershing how it ought to be done. But when it comes to an old crab of a swivel chair major chuckin" "bomb-proofer" in my teeth--well, I guess that"ll be about all. Here"s where I get a revise or quit. Right here."
And it was sentiments like that, only maybe worded not quite so brash, that I pa.s.sed out to Old Hickory a little later on. He listens about as sympathetic as a traffic cop hearin" why you tried to rush the stop signal.
"I think we have discussed all that before, young man," says he. "The War Department has recognized that, as the head of an essential industry, I am ent.i.tled to a private secretary; also that you might prove more useful with a commission than without one. And I rather think you have. So there you are."
"Excuse me, Mr. Ellins," says I, "but I can"t see it that way. I don"t know whether I"m private seccing or getting ready for a masquerade ball.
Any one-legged man could do what I"m doing. I"m ready to chuck the commission and enlist."
"Really!" says he. "Well, in the first place, my son, a war-time commission is something one doesn"t chuck back at the United States government because of any personal whim. It isn"t being done. And then again, you tried enlisting once, didn"t you, and were turned down?"
"But that was early in the game," says I, "when the recruiting officers weren"t pa.s.sing any but young Sandows. I could get by now. Have a heart, Mr. Ellins. Lemme make a try."
He chews his cigar a minute, drums thoughtful on the mahogany desk, and then seems to have a bright little idea.
"Very well, Torchy," says he, "we"ll see what my friend, Major Wellby, can do for you when he comes in."
"Him!" says I. "Why, he"d do anything for me that the law didn"t stop him from."
And sure enough, when the major drifts in again them two was shut in the private office for more"n half an hour before I"m called in. I could guess just by the way the major glares fond at me that if he could work it he"d get me a nice, easy job mowin" the gra.s.s in No Man"s Land, or some snap like that.
"Huh!" says he, givin" me the night court up and down. "Wants an active command, does he? And his training has been what? Four years as office boy, three as private secretary! It"s no use, Ellins. We"re not fighting this war with waste baskets or typewriters, you know."
"Oh, come, major!" puts in Old Hickory. "Why be unreasonable about this?
I will admit that you may be right, so far as it"s being folly to send this young man to the front. But I do insist that as a lieutenant he is rather useful just where he is."
"Bah!" snorts the major. "So is the farmer who"s raising hogs and corn.
He"s useful. But we don"t put shoulder straps on him, or send him to France in command of a company. For jobs like that we try to find youngsters who"ve been trained to handle men; who know how to get things done. What we don"t want is--eh? Someone calling me on the "phone? All right. Yes, this is Major Wellby. What? Oh, it can"t be done today! Yes, yes! I understand all that. But see here, captain, that transport is due to sail at--hey, central! I say, central! Oh, what"s the use?"
And as the major bangs up the receiver his face looks like a strawb"ry shortcake just ready to serve. Somehow Mr. Ellins seems to be enjoyin"
the major"s rush of temperament to the ears. Anyhow, there"s a familiar flicker under them bushy eyebrows of his and I ain"t at all surprised when he remarks soothin": "I gather, major, that someone can"t seem to get something done."
"Precisely," says the major, moppin" a few pearly beads off his shiny dome. "And when a regular army captain makes up his mind that a thing can"t be done--well, it"s hopeless, that"s all. In this instance, however, I fear he"s right, worse luck!"
"Anyway," suggests Mr. Ellins, "he has made you think that the thing is impossible, eh?"
"Think!" growls the major, glancin" suspicious at Old Hickory. "I say, Ellins, what are you getting at? Still harping on that red tape notion, are you? Perhaps you imagine this to be a case where, if you could only turn loose your wonderful organization, you could work a miracle?"
"No, major," says Old Hickory. "We don"t claim to work in miracles; but when we decide that a thing ought to be done at a certain time--well, generally it gets done."
"Just like that, eh?" grins the major sarcastic. "Really, Ellins, you big business men are too good to be true. But see here; why not tap your amazing efficiency for my benefit. This little job, for instance, which one of our poor misguided captains reports as impossible within the time limit. I suppose you would merely press a b.u.t.ton and----"
"Not even that," breaks in Mr. Ellins. "I would simply turn it over to Torchy here--and he"d do it."
The major glances at me careless and shrugs his shoulders. "My dear Ellins," says he, "you probably don"t realize it, but that"s the sort of stuff which adds to the horrors of war. Here you haven"t the vaguest idea as to what----"
"Perhaps," cuts in Old Hickory, "but I"ll bet you a hundred to twenty-five."
"Taken," says the major. Then he turns to me. "When can you start, lieutenant?"
"As soon as I know where I"m starting for, sir," says I.
"How convenient," says he. "Well, then, here is an order on the New York Telephone Co. for five spools of wire which you"ll find stored somewhere on Central Park South. See if you can get "em."
"Yes, sir," says I. "And suppose I can?"
"Report to me at the Plutoria before 5:30 this afternoon," says he. "I shall be having tea there. Ellins, you"d better be on hand, too, so that I can collect that hundred."
And that"s all there was to it. I"m handed a slip of paper carrying the Quartermaster General"s O. K., and while these two old sports are still chucklin" at each other I"ve grabbed my uniform cap off the roll-top and have caught an express elevator.
Course, I expected a frame-up. All them army officers are hard boiled eggs when it comes to risking real money, and I knew the major must think his twenty-five was as safe as if he"d invested it in thrift stamps. As for Old Hickory Ellins, he"d toss away a hundred any time on the chance of pulling a good bluff. So I indulges in a shadowy little grin myself and beats it up town.
Simple enough to locate them spools of wire. Oh, yes. They"re right in the middle of the block between Sixth and Broadway, tucked away inconspicuous among as choice a collection of contractor"s junk as you can find anywhere in town, and that"s sayin" a good deal. But maybe you"ve noticed what"s been happenin" along there where Fifty-ninth street gets high-toned? Looks like an earthquake had wandered by, but it"s only that down below they"re connectin" the new subway with another East river tunnel. And if there"s anything in the way of old derricks, or sc.r.a.p iron, or wooden beams, or construction sheds that ain"t been left lying around on top it"s because they didn"t have it on hand to leave.
Cute little things, them spools are, too; about six feet high, three wide, and weighin" a ton or so each, I should judge. And to make the job of movin" "em all the merrier an old cement mixer has been at work right next to "em and the surplus concrete has been thrown out until they"ve been bedded in as solid as so many bridge piers. I climbs around and takes a look.
"How cunnin"!" says I. "Why, they"d make the Rock of Ages look like a loose front tooth. And all I got to do is pull "em up by the roots, one at a time. Ha, ha! Likewise, tee-hee!"
It sized up like a bad case of bee bite with me at the wrong end of the stinger. Still, I was just mulish enough to stick around. I had nearly three hours left before I"d have to listen to the major"s mirthsome cackle, and I might as well spend part of it thinkin" up fool schemes.
So I walks around that cl.u.s.ter of cement-set spools some more. I even climbs on top of one and gazes up and down the block.
They were still doing things to make it look less like a city street and more like the ruins of Louvain. Down near the Fifth Avenue gates was the fenced-in mouth of a shaft that led somewhere into the bowels of Manhattan. And while I was lookin" out climbs a dago, unrolls a dirty red flag, and holds up the traffic until a dull "boom" announces that the offensive is all over for half an hour or so. Up towards Columbus Circle more industry was goin" on. A steam roller was smoothin" out a strip of pavement that had just been relaid, and nearer by a gang was tearin" up more of the asphalt. I got kind of interested in the way they was doin" it, too. You know, they used to do this street wreckin" with picks and crowbars, but this crowd seemed to have more modern methods.
They was usin" three of these pneumatic drills and they sure were ripping it up slick and speedy. About then I noticed that their compressor was chugging away nearly opposite me and that the lines of hose stretched out fifty feet or more.
"Say!" says I jerky and breathless, but to n.o.body in particular. I was just registerin" the fact that I"d had a sudden thought.
A few minutes before, too, I"d seen a squad of rookies wander past and into the park. I remembered noticin" what a husky, tanned lot they were, and from their hat cords that they belonged to the artillery branch.
Well, that was enough. In a flash I"d shinned over the stone wall and was headin" "em off.
You know how these cantonment delegations wander around town aimless when they"re dumped down here on leave waiting to be shunted off quiet onto some transport? No friends, mighty little money, and nothing to do but tramp the streets or hang around the Y. They actually looked kind of grateful when I stops "em and returns their salute. As luck would have it there"s a top sergeant in the bunch, so I don"t have to make a reg"lar speech.
"It"s this way, sergeant," says I. "I"m looking for a few volunteers."
"There"s ten of us, sir," says he, "with not a thing on our hands but time."