Show THE E FICTION HUN CORNER CORN ER HARD by MILTON BRACKER vj THE dead man mans s foot toot protruded from the blanket like a dis carded boot A pan of water rested on the sidewalk they had tried to do something for him without being able to just an ordinary a speeding car a rat tat tat and that was all another not so big shot was through five minutes after the cops came a squeaky sedan jolted to a stop at the opposite curb half a dozen men piled out reporters someone in the crowd decided the newcomers took in the scene in a matter of fact way then swarmed about the lieutenant and the homicide squad man and plied them with questions one of the newspapermen was chewing gum the others were smoking and find one rotund fellow laughed raucously at something the homicide squad man said soon a few broke away and headed for the drugstore across the street with the blued blue and white telephone emblem outside within twenty minutes all of them squeezed back into the car S long mac see y in church the man at the wheel yelled to the lieutenant as the gears meshed hard guys the man in the crowd muttered as the machine turned the corner you said it his companion agreed dryly an hour later joe belsner of the city news federation old man of the borough boroughs s police reporters left the smoky walled pressroom on the ground floor of the supreme court building to buy an afternoon paper johnny hennessy of the globe the kid of the shack sat in a comer corner figuring out his expense account jim reide of the post flash nason of the mail cohen of the reflector and lenox of the home press with a few of the usual pressroom hangers on were at the inevitable rummy game opposite delany of the star legs stretched majestically across bis his desk and feet high in the air sat back read ing a fat book with a scarlet cover and yellow edges levito who was with an upcounty up county paper fidgeted in a phone booth waiting to clean up the shooting story A voice thundered in the corridor the others looked up they always did when belsner spoke he was pointing to something huddled at the doorway now what d ya call this the old man grunted stooping over he picked up the cringing some thing and deposited it gingerly on bis ins desk a massive roll top affair with private keep cull on it in forbidding letters the something was a very tiny dog a bedraggled puppy that looked as if it hadn t eaten in as long as it hadn haan t bathed its eyes were red rimmed as if with weeping but there was a pink spot on the end of the moist black nose and the eyes themselves 4 sparkled giving a pert look to the whole I 1 ugly adl bundle hennessy stopped pondering de lany tossed his book aside and both ambled over reide turned his head from the card table the mutt probably has fleas he remarked keep it offa my desk As if understanding the puppy turned to its critic appealingly belsner laughed gruffly ignoring the complaint it s a cute lookin mutt at that ain t it kid the old man winked to hennessy send out and well we 11 give it a feed one of the ever present boot blacks was dispatched across the street in a minute or two the pooch was sipping milk and sniff mg ing chop meat oblivious to further criticism or his audience ginger temporarily deserted sniffed in and out of the chair legs feeling for reide who always petted him the dog rubbed against brown browns s trousers by mistake why the the startled clerk swore he reached down picked up the pup clumsily and tossed him carelessly to the floor about a yard away wonder you guys wouldn t keep animals outa here he growled drawing a card you d think it was a zoo nobody replied hennessy looked up queerly from his typewriter ginger not having sensed the re buff returned to the table again he brushed brown s trousers As if having anticipated the annoyance the clerk kicked vigorously there was a sharp squeal then ginger living up to his name bit brown roared grabbed the pooch from his leg and before anyone could protest hurled him with crushing force against the wall there was a crunch then a whim per every eye in the place turned to the battered little body on the floor but in a split second every eye was glued on the centre of the room 1 ap 0 hennessy caught the clerk with ahard a hard left to the jaw we well 11 call him ginger hen nessy suggested the fire lire in his eyes will you ginger yapped appreciatively provocatively that finished the card game reide the most die hard of the players threw down his gummy cards and with the others gathered around mels ner s desk fondly they watched the grimy little mutt push his snoot into the wormlike worm like chop meat two days later ginger was part of the life of the shack A bootblack had been commissioned to give him a bath to provide a lined box for a bed to continue general while the men were out on stories holdups suicides fires whatnot ginger tripped around impatiently until they came back then he greeted them joyously with quick short barking yelps the pressroom was crowded one sultry afternoon crowded with sweaty men in shirtsleeve shirtsleeves s at the card table next to reide was al brown a thick necked hardware clerk who spent his idle hours with what he called the news hounds and ginger was forgotten hen nessy has sprung from his chair like a starting sprinter yanked brown from his seat overturning the table at the same time and smashed a hard fist to the outsider s jaw brown reeled regained his foot nig 9 swung and missed nason and delany started to intervene but belsner who had taken everything in quietly stopped them with a move of his lus hand let em ern go a while he said grimly the others backed away thoroughly a aroused r 0 u s e d brown lunged at his lighter rival who danced aside just fast enough As the clerk plowed by the reporter grabbed bun him by the scruff of the neck swung him around and sent him sprawling away with another punch that cracked against his jaw brown shook his head spat then went for hennessy again the re suit sult was still another crack he could feel bis his eye swell as if air had been pumped around it clear ly be he was no match math at boxing tor for the fire eyed news hound who side stepped and stung him so deftly he dropped back bacic then plunged low like a football player and threw hennessy to the floor again nason and delany leaped forward to interfere but the old man an intense gleam in his eyes restrained them it looked bad tor for the reporter brown pressed his advantage bore down with his full weight one of the newspaperman s shoulders was down the other twisted consul as the panting fellow on top sought to wrench it into the dirt of the floorboards floor boards then suddenly one of hennessy s legs appeared en twined about the body of his foe the other leg applied pressure from beneath and a perfect wrestler wrestlers s scissors hurled the heavier man to the side almost reversing the positions the knotted pair whirled crazily across the floor like lile a two headed fiend they crashed into belsner s desk upsetting a bottle of purple ink which spilled over both of them then they tore apart and each staggered to his feet a livid mess brown wiped his brow smearing it grotesquely with sweat ink and blood he lunged again but tor for the last time hennessy his whole frame taut for one blow poised like a matador and as the clerk rushed in brought his left fist forward and up like a lead mallet it caught the hardware clerk on the point of the chin and he went down for good from the corner a faint bark signalized ginger s approval and jolted the wide eyed onlookers to their senses ten minutes later a few blocks down brown was telling his boss how he d been mobbed in a card game brawl with a half dozen re porters I 1 told you to keep away from those fellows he was told they re hard guys in the pressroom reide held a blue bowl and delany held ginger the others were clustered around beaming the puppy s bruised side was bandaged clean around his tat fat little middle and tied with a tunny funny bow on top like a christmas parcel will ya look at the tile runt go toi fox that milk will ya I 1 grinned at hennessy |