Her Reputation by Talbot Mundy

The Tribune Building in San Francisco hummed to the throb of the enormous presses. The news-room grew suddenly quiet, and then noisy with voices, as it always did when an edition had gone to press. Sherry Mansfield, back into routine a week ago and looking as if he had never seen dirt or muddy water, stood in the big window with both hands in his pockets, staring moodily at the street. Dad Lawrence beckoned the city editor, and walked out with him for coffee and cigarettes that were almost a part of the daily ritual, in a dingy, smoky little caf‚ down a side-street- -a place where any one could find them in a hurry, and where the entire staff often drifted in during the half-hour between editions. Dad had almost reached the elevator, when John Covert Mansfield's door opened with a jerk.

"Dad -- I want you."