The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1919-09-18
HE, DAILY
SHORT STORY
when Billy Itched.
"a WEE Il. AM e.

~ f BY WILL u FWSOt
Copyright, 1918, by the Mcclure News
paper Syndicate.
N, ANDERSON says II youl ora"
4 full diagram OF that story on
~ your desk he'll have the new
lhgh school cub rewrite 1t. You're
sufe going strong with the old man.
oil. you 60 0ase yourself" Billy
Harhury wasn't very much stronger
or repartee than he was in the con-
struction Of his laboriously written
news stories But there was consid-
cradle feeling In the glance that ne
bent on the grinning Jones, the city
hail man. There was no need o.
jones piling 1t on. Billy was senst-
tive enough about hla falling and the
blue .penciled message scFawled across
the whole first page Of the copy on
his desk-"R !!!"-required no
Interpretation by outsiders.
Harburys nickname alone Would
hove served 10 spoil worse temper
than his. Itchy" Somehow sugges-
tive Of indifference to the cleanliness
next 10 godliness, OF some kind Of
personal, physical faint, OF slum orl'
gin. ii was a deuce Of name Billy
often thought, to have wished onto a
Eresh. faced, immaculate, daily batbed
boy who had been brought up In a
good home and never forgotten the
ways thereof
But one day, in the first weeks OF
his cubdom, Billy had dug up peach
of u story along the docks about a
schooner then in port WHICH turned
out to have had most amazing put
authentic history OF blockade running,
gun smuggling and the like.
Billy wrote the story and therein
he referred to the schooner, inter-
changeably as it and she, just as the
words happened to come off his type
writer The copy desk on the Her
aidp was a bit Of a joke and Sander
son, the city editor was in the midst
OF first edition rush, so the story
got by as written.
1t was an awful mess of pronouns
with its conflicting re2etttions OF 1t
and she. The staff needed but about
forty seconds to>evolve "it-she" into
"ltchy"-and Billy Halhury was duo'
bed.
But if Billy's nickname suggested
paucity in the gift OF expression the
Reputation he had gained in his two
years on the Herald" was far from
being one for stupidity. He was the
papers very best natural sleuth, a
horn digger after evasive facts an
engineer gifted with resourcstulness
in following the merest color OF eX-
elusive news back to the mother lode
Of glorious scoops" The boys in the
office rallied at his bunglins use Of tbs
presidents American but they took
off their hats to him when 1t came to
getting the stuff"
Having rewritten the story and turn
ed it in to sanderson who grunted
something to the effect OF the rewrlte
beingnot quite SO horrible, Billy hur-
ried away to his police beat" -
Besides headquarters he had to COW
or three precincts and 1t was half
mast nine when he dropped off an east
side car in front Of the "Hard Boiled
station house. Medley, the lieutenant
in charge. was questioning girl as
the reporter entered the station.
The girl was not an unusual type
Thin, cheaply dressed, OF no particu'
ular complexion, the only noticeable
things about here were her uncommon
IL fine gray eyes and her clean, neat
IL cared for hair, which was almost
LIack She looked ironically worried
snd Aarassed.
Billy had a vague impression that he
had seen her before-but that means
that you have Just happened to notice
her in the street car,
Presently the lieutenant dismissed
the eivl, who departed. Billy looked
inquiringly at the policeman.
mo Story there" cautioned Medley
aNo charge against her; not even
suspect. Mrs, shannon, around tht
corner on Grove, came In here and
asked me to have a talk with the girl;
she lodges there. Said the girl lost
her lob in one Of those north end
garment shops two weeks ago and
hasn't hardly been out of her room
since. The old lady thinks she hasn'
had anything to eat but crackers ant
milk this week and she's worried.
i sent Briggs around to ask her te
step in here thinking she might be
nutty; but she talks straight enough
secretiye as the devil, though. Call
herself Swain, Guess she's got goot
education. didn't get anything out O
her.
Billy knew the lieutenant vel
enough to be sure that he was keeping
nothing up his sleeve, It was proba'
lily merely case Of a we'll brought vi
BUT incapable girl, fallen on III times
Who had lost her nerve but not hel
PRIDE. Young as he was the boy
had run across more than one Sucl
Ease in his police station experience.
But as he hoped car for the fourtl
orecinet Billy was still thinking o
tiiat sirl and the haunting resem-
Nance, Ten seconds after that HI
had hoped off the car again in tbs
middle Of the block and was on hi
way to Grove street on the run. Bill!
had remembered something--s news
paper photograph Of many weeks ago
MIS-. shanahan's was easy to find
and the persuasive Billy induced tina
reluctant lady to take him up TO he
dodgers room and Introduce him to he
"a his correct character as a rspFesen
tatiye Of the Herald" The IodgeI
..tha6a IT,. NauHI atfkfan, 81 t6a SUtn