“Too bad you didn’t get a shot of yourself hanging to the old man’s wrists!” he chuckled. “What a picture that would have made!”
“I wasn’t worrying about pictures at that moment. I was trying to save my neck! Orris doesn’t seem to think much of my work.”
Wells shrugged as he turned to leave. “Oh, you can’t tell what that bird thinks by how he acts. Keep on the way you’ve started and you ought to get a raise. See you tomorrow.”
Flash took another look at his negatives and then while they were soaking, went to wash some of the soot and grime from his face. Fairly presentable again, he returned to the photographic department. Orris, who seemed to be writing a letter at his desk did not glance up.
Entering the darkroom, Flash removed the films from the tray. In the act of carrying them to the drying drum he suddenly paused and stared. For an instant he thought he had taken the wrong negatives from the tank, that his pictures had been mixed with those Orris had been making.
Frantically he examined the films. They were his, but so badly streaked that they never could be used. Not a single one had been spared. His entire work was ruined!
The extent of the catastrophe nearly overwhelmed Flash. Jerking open the darkroom door, he called hoarsely to Fred Orris.
“Now what?” the man demanded impatiently.
“I wish you would look at these negatives.”
The urgency of Flash’s voice brought the older photographer to his feet. He studied the streaked films one after another.
“They’re ruined,” he said, with no show of sympathy. “What did you do to them?”
“Nothing. The films were all right when I went to the wash room. I left them soaking. I wasn’t gone ten minutes.”
“Well, you must have done something unusual,” Orris snapped. “My pictures came out all right. Sure you didn’t add any extra chemicals to the tanks?”
Flash shook his head. “I can’t understand it,” he mumbled. “The pictures were okay when I left them. Someone must have tampered—”
“See here, Evans,” Orris broke in sharply, “don’t try to pass the buck. No one around here would have any interest in ruining your films. In any case, I’ve been sitting at my desk most of the time.”
“I wasn’t trying to offer an alibi. I can’t understand it, that’s all.”