"You are certainly facing a lot of difficult propositions." Miss
Sherwood checked them off on her fingers. "The police are after you--
your old friends are after you--you do not dare be caught. You want to
clear yourself--you want to make a business success--you want to
eradicate Maggie's present ambitions and remove her from her present
influences."
"That is the correct total," said Larry.
"Certainly a large total! Of them all, which is the most important
item?"
Larry considered. "Maggie," he confessed. "But Maggie really includes
all the others. To have any influence with her, I must get out of the
power of the police, I must overcome her belief that I am a stool and
a squealer, and I must prove to her that I can make a success by going
straight."
"Just so. And all these things you must do while a fugitive in
hiding."
"Exactly. Or else not do them."
"H'm! . . . The most pressing thing, I judge, is to have a safe and
permanent place to hide, and to have work which may lead to an
opportunity to prove yourself a success."
"Yes."
"Mr. Hunt's O.K. on you would be sufficient, in any event, and he has
given that O.K.," Miss Sherwood said in her even voice. "Besides, my
own judgment prompts me to believe in your truth and your sincerity.
Pages:
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137