[
 {
  "chunk": 440,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "Sensing a big battle brewing, Torchy is told by the boss to show in a certain Mr. Jones at once and then block all other callers; Torchy cheekily asks which Jones.",
  "predicament": "Someone minding the door is told to admit one important visitor and block everyone else, without being told why."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 441,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "Torchy recognises the visitor as a notorious railway president, battered by legislatures, indictments and angry shareholders, arriving calm and sardonic for a showdown with the boss.",
  "predicament": "Someone junior recognises a famous, much-attacked rival arriving calmly for a private showdown with the boss."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 442,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "Torchy guesses the firm's interests are under threat; he opens the door slowly to watch, but the boss waves him out, and he teases the curious typists.",
  "predicament": "Someone junior tries to linger at a high-level meeting, is waved out, and can only speculate with the other staff."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 443,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "The head clerk fusses all day, then forgets vital papers; Torchy takes them in mid-meeting and hears the boss demand whether the rival will drop a competing trolley line, and the rival say it is up to his agent.",
  "predicament": "Sent in with a supervisor's forgotten papers, someone junior walks in on the climax of a tense confrontation."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 444,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "The rival says the line is his agent's pet project and the agent won't come; the boss, told to send a representative, calms suddenly and announces he will send Torchy, stunning everyone.",
  "predicament": "To make a point to a rival, the boss suddenly names someone junior as his representative in a high-stakes negotiation."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 445,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "The boss tells Torchy to demand the agent drop the line, or else buy his charter for up to a hundred thousand, and to say he is the office boy; Torchy brushes past the agent's secretary, who says the agent is leaving town.",
  "predicament": "Someone junior is sent to negotiate with a powerful stranger under instructions to announce plainly how junior he is."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 446,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "The agent turns out to be a big, steady-eyed, formidable man; Torchy delivers his message nervously and is told flatly he will not quit or talk price, so asks to ride along.",
  "predicament": "Someone junior sent to intimidate a formidable opponent is calmly refused, and asks to tag along instead of leaving."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 447,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "In the car the agent asks Torchy's position, and Torchy sheepishly admits office boy; the agent explains his real obstacle is a stubborn farmer whose land he must cross before his charter lapses, and that he will never sell to the boss.",
  "predicament": "A formidable opponent frankly tells someone junior his real difficulty, while making clear he will never sell out."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 448,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "Near the farm the agent stops for a crying little girl who has lost her birthday nickel, comforts her, and buys her a big box of chocolates.",
  "predicament": "Someone junior watches a hard-driving opponent stop in the middle of urgent business to be kind to a crying child."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 449,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "After a flat tyre they reach the old farmer, who refuses to sell because his wife and children are buried on the land and he wants to lie there in peace.",
  "predicament": "A determined man meets the stubborn landowner blocking his plans, who refuses for reasons of grief rather than money."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 450,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "The agent asks only for a strip on the far side, candidly admits his backers' bad reputation, and eloquently explains how the line would benefit the district; the farmer still refuses.",
  "predicament": "A determined man makes an honest, heartfelt case to a stubborn opponent and is flatly refused anyway."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 451,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "He tells of his own farm boyhood and how the railway transformed it; still refused, he is interrupted when the farmer's daughter runs out and recognises him as the man who bought her chocolates.",
  "predicament": "After every argument fails, a chance earlier kindness suddenly turns up at the decisive moment in front of the opponent."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 452,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "Moved that the stranger was kind to his only remaining child, the farmer gives him the land at his own price; Torchy reports the agent is the real power behind the rival company, and the boss resolves to win him over.",
  "predicament": "Someone junior sent to deal with an opponent reports back that the opponent is the real power worth winning over."
 },
 {
  "chunk": 453,
  "story": 33,
  "summary": "The railway president resigns within a week; the agent now meets the boss as an ally, and the firm backs the trolley line.",
  "predicament": "After someone junior's report, the boss turns a formidable opponent into an ally and the old rival falls."
 }
]