Chapter I: Foreword: In the Nature of an Alibi

Some of these stories were written while the Great War was still on. So the setting and local coloring and atmosphere and all that sort of thing, such as it is, came from those strenuous days when we heroic civilians read the war extras with stern, unflinching eye, bought as many Liberty bonds as we were told we should, and subscribed to various drives as cheerfully as we might. Have you forgotten your reactions of a few short months ago? Perhaps then, these may revive your memory of some of them.

You may note with disappointment that Torchy got no nearer to the front-line trenches than Bridgeport, Conn. That is a sentiment the writer shares with you. But the blame lies with an overcautious government which hesitated, perhaps from super-humane reasons, from turning loose on a tottering empire a middle-aged semi-literary person who was known to handle a typewriter with such reckless abandon. And where he could not go himself he refused to send another. So Torchy remained on this side, and whether or not his stay was a total loss is for you to decide. S. F.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Quick Shunt for Puffy 1
II. Old Hickory Bats Up One 19
III. Torchy Pulls the Deep Stuff 37
IV. A Frame-up for Stubby 56
V. The Vamp in the Window 73
VI. Turkeys on the Side 91
VII. Ernie and His Big Night 108
VIII. How Babe Missed His Step 126
IX. Hartley and the G. O. G.'s 145
X. The Case of Old Jonesey 164
XI. As Lucy Lee Passed By 182
XII. Torchy Meets Ellery Bean 200
XIII. Torchy Strays from Broadway 222
XIV. Subbing for the Boss 238
XV. A Late Hunch for Lester 256
XVI. Torchy Tackles a Mystery 272
XVII. With Vincent at the Turn 290

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TORCHY AND VEE