Signal in the Dark Part 8

"It's not that, Penny. The truth is--well--"

"You haven't the price of a dinner?" Penny supplied. "Is that it, Ben?"

"I'm practically broke," he acknowledged ruefully. "Sounds screwy in a day and age like this, but I'm not strong enough for factory work. Was rejected from the Army on account of my health. Tomorrow I guess I'll take a desk job somewhere, but I've held off, not wanting to get stuck on it."

"You're a newspaper man, Ben. Reporting is all you've ever done, isn't it?"

"Yes, but I'm finished now. Can't get a job anywhere." The young man started to move away, but Penny caught his arm again.

"Ben, you _are_ having dinner with me," she insisted. "I have plenty of money, and this is my treat. I really want to talk to you."

"I can't let you pay for my dinner," Ben protested, though with less vigor.

"Silly! You can take me somewhere as soon as you get your job."

"Well, if you put it that way," Ben agreed, falling willingly into step.

"There's a place here on the waterfront that serves good meals, but it's not stylish."

"All the better. Lead on, Ben."

He took her to a small, crowded little restaurant only a block away. In the front window, a revolving spit upon which were impaled several roasting chickens, captured all eyes. Ben's glands began to work as he watched the birds browning over the charcoal.

"Ben, how long has it been since you've had a real meal?" Penny asked, picking up the menu.

"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 wis.h.i.+ng 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?"