"I was on the point of discharging him, you remember, with the hearty
approval of the directors. His stuff was dismal, abysmal, and hopeless.
One day he turned around and began handing in stuff of a totally
different kind. First-rate, some of it. I thought at first that he must
be hiring somebody to do it for him. Did you see the paper while you
were away?"
"Very irregularly, I'm sorry to say."
"Quite on his own hook, the boy turned up one day with an article on the
Centre Street 'mashers' that was a screamer. You know what that
situation was--"
"Yes, yes."
"I had for some time had it in mind to tackle it myself. The fact was
that we were developing a class of boy Don Juans that were a black
disgrace to the city. It was a rather unpleasant subject, but this young
man handled it with much tact, as well as with surprising vigor and
ability. His improvement seemed to date from right there. I encouraged
him to follow up his first effort, and he wrote a strong series which
attracted attention all through the State, and has already brought about
decided improvement."
"Splendid! You know," said West, "the first time I ever looked at that
boy, I was sure he had the stuff in him.
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