Mr. Manning spoke a few brief sentences which the other reporters could not distinguish, though they could hear Billy saying, "Yes, sir," every now and then; "That's so," "Yes, I agree with you," while his head nodded attentively, and then, "Good-by, sir;" and in a little over a minute Billy Woods marched down the room and out of the gate, no longer a member of The Day's staff. Newspaper editors have no superfluous time to spend, even upon geniuses.
II
Woods was now completely sober for the first time in four days.
He could turn either up or down the Row, he knew, and get a position in the first newspaper office he came to. But to be "discharged for intoxication" meant more to Woods than even his intimate friends imagined. It had made him a great deal soberer than he cared to be, and before he reached the foot of the stairs he had made up his mind what to do about it. It was not
10
