The Turn of the Tide by Fred M. White — Read

Though Jack Ellis would have smiled at any friend who called him a business man, he was quite thorough in his methods, and, once he had set his mind upon a thing, had the true bulldog grip. Whilst waiting for his chance at the Bar he had taken up journalism with all the cheery enthusiasm of his nature and, having some gift of expression and a natural nose for the essentials, had been more than successful from the start. He belonged naturally to the gregarious type of animal, and crowds, especially plebeian crowds, appealed to him irresistibly. So in search of "copy" he had gravitated to the East End, and when he had read of those impudent depredations along Thames-side he had started to investigate.

Luck had helped him from the first. He was utterly fearless; he had a fine knowledge of what was once called "the noble art of self-defence"; he was quite at home wherever a boat was to be found, and before many weeks had elapsed he knew as much about the lower reaches of the Thames as many a waterman who had spent all his life there. Before long his river-side sketches were quite a feature in the _Daily Telephone, _ and after he had been of service to the river police on a certain memorable occasion he had enjoyed the confidence of the authorities, and a launch had been placed at his disposal by the pleased proprietors of his own paper.