Page:Lynch Williams--The stolen story and other newspaper stories.djvu/264

 ways watched Billy's eyes when giving instructions about an assignment, and if the eyes did not brighten then he knew that Woods did not see his story in it and usually gave him something else. Not all members of the staff were so favored.

But when Woods did see his story, and had excitedly grabbed some copy-paper, and the cane which he never forgot, no matter how many overcoats and gloves he shed about town, and had marched eagerly out of the room with the grinning office-boys watching to see whether he put his hat on or carried it in his hand this time—nobody knew quite how he was so successful in scenting and flushing and retrieving the news. Perhaps he did not either. He was always half crazy until he finished his job, and had returned, sometimes on the run, to the office, where he wrote furiously and filed the copy, smiling excitedly and sighing joyfully.

He had no rules about holding peoples' eyes or studying their weaknesses or addressing them frequently by name. He never planned beforehand how he was go-