"D'you know who Marna Corcoran was?"
"An actress, wasn't she?"
"Leading lady at the old Coliseum Theater. A good actress and a good
woman. I was a cub then on The Sphere under Red McGraw, the worst
gutter-pup that ever sat at a city desk, and a damned good newspaper
man. In those days The Sphere specialized on scandals; the rottener, the
better; stuff that it wouldn't touch to-day. Well, a hell-cat of a
society woman sued her husband for divorce and named Miss Corcoran. Pure
viciousness, it was. There wasn't a shadow of proof, or even suspicion."
"I remember something about that case. The woman withdrew the charge,
didn't she?"
"When it was too late. Red McGraw had an early tip and sent me to
interview Marna Corcoran. He let me know pretty plainly that my job
depended on my landing the story. That was his style; a bully. Well, I
got the interview; never mind how. When I left her home Miss Corcoran
was in a nervous collapse. I reported to McGraw. 'Keno!' says he. 'Give
us a column and a half of it. Spice it.' I spiced it--I guess. They tell
me it was a good job. I got lost in the excitement of writing and forgot
what I was dealing with, a woman. We had a beat on that interview. They
raised my salary, I remember. A week later Red called me to the desk.
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