Peter now
sat huddled into a chair, twisting his trembling hands together,
while the chief detective of the Traction Trust explained to him his
new program. Peter was permanently ruined as a witness in the case.
The labor conspirators had raised huge sums for their defense; they
had all the labor unions of the city, and in fact of the entire
country behind them, and they were hiring spies and informers, and
trying to find out all they could about the prosecution, the
evidence it had collected and the moves it was preparing. Guffey did
not say that he had been afraid to kick Peter out because of the
possibility that Peter might go over to the Goober side and tell all
he knew; but Peter guessed this while he sat listening to Guffey's
explanation, and realized with a thrill of excitement that at last
he had really got a hold upon the ladder of prosperity. Not in vain
had his finger been almost broken and his wrist almost dislocated!
"Now," said Guffey, "here's my idea: As a witness you're on the bum,
but as a spy, you're it. They know that you blabbed, and that I know
it; they know I've had you in the hole. So now what I want to do is
to make a martyr of you. D'you see?"
Peter nodded; yes, he saw.
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