LITERATURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 784, 30 March 1905, Page 4

LITERATURE .

I m. THE OENEUAL MANAGER'S ' r ' ?CAjR. "■ I c '~' : ' CCottliwed-i h ' All she saw ot Omaha was the [* glimpse of trainsheds, high brick buildings, cindery yards and sooty !"•> with engines. which she taught from i; the window of the rear apartment of i- ibe 800. She was there by Maxson s suggestion. " Mr. Meradith maj bring 'somebody on board for busimm," fco sairf. "so you'd betteri & wait her? till he rings, 1 will be on

;i«Okl to mako/ you feel acuuaintca ;; with him." The 800 was quicEly switched to M» rear of the Prairie Flyer, by orders all understood, and the Flyer " waa starting, when ths general man-K.-.«ger, with the grace gained by long ~r praatice, swung easily aboard, alone *" leaving a group of three men with —*■— r h»-jurd Jbcen- talking. „eho, Dun,"* he said J "shaking » Maxson's hand. " Here all right ? " „"" •' Well," drawled Maxson "dubiously r""'I am here but I don't ftnow how ■■y. aear right you will think' it is. This, £is the message I got,at 2.3oyester- ,- day afternoon,'" and ne placed the V bungled telegram to Mcradith's handu j_,"Of course," he added, after a fracVthm of a minute, in which brief ' apace* of time tfie motile face of th * general manager underwent some in „ ,lert-9ting changes' of expression;, " il I course) I- Suspected a mistake, an ] *. set Parkins to tracing it, but Idi '; not bear until we had beon on tie) - train an hour. Then this came." 14 ",. faaoded aver the correct reading. ,' . " Till we were on the train an hour ? " and a queer look nt Maxp son, with a heavy emphasis on the ' "we " '•' 'Who is ' we ' ? "• you see her, ' Charlie," pleaded Maxson. " She is ' a poor -young thing from the count! \ try, as sweet and innocent as thty out there, as poor as it is picture. She came to me a month ag» with a note .from a -friend of ' mine hunting work in Chicago ! You dt?«aJf imagine thait, can't you ? She w*s trying to forget a stepmother outTtierc in lowa', and she had a deal of hope and very little) smoney ; but after tramping the for about three weeks the nion- * ey outlasted the hope. She was head- * ed home when this fool of a mesA *nfe of- yours came along. I spoke . to her about it'and she cried at §PiJfhe chance. I couldn't swear you STiidn't mean what this said, and I ;, couldn't find out, anil so I brought yjajgr. Now I just want;to say this; , *f you ilon't want ftCr you needn't fi. 1m burdened with her. I told her 9r it might be three weeks, even if she right now?, before she begins. r*»k it to her" as gently as. you '" -', a»p her back home drift-class, I look to me to pay her at twen-1 gjK'ty a week, and transportation and & 'incidentals—only dott't hurt her. She P» ; "jas stood enough, and she can't stand an j thing of that kind. And li, Sjron't.'* I #.- The general manager stood anil if looked at Maxson ? not in anger, but 1 , i T 'as though he was, striving to gTasp " some definite notion of the 'J".'At lost be safcl : " Where is sh'c?'S »- eomt when you ring," replied Ma>-», i aoa - 1 •x T*e general manager unlocked nnc? ; opened his desk, and seated himseJt > at H. The big bundle of letters'tha I „' < .*>»4 reposed In the general office J the *lay before, he released from ~. c their rubber band and disposed be--t lore him. Then he rang. h When she came timidly into thel

■T, 1 "" room, barely "past the door; ha , .cheeks pale with a bright spot} j, - uhe centre, her eyes wide and ner ▼oiis, her face faintly smiling ii % sheer fright, he rose from bis cfiair, \* In all bis thirty-eight strenuous years he had never seen a fairer' er woman. :- And as he stood looking at her, - sence wig had'expected, but a mat „ rather under than above the aver ' age height, slender of waist , yel v p broad and. square of shoulder, an .steady and reserved of manner. H'. . . 9600 th face shoved force in ever j fe Mne and curve ; his hair was tho g" soft, untouched brown of a lad, but fe.; his eye was the eye of an eagle. It seemed to search her through and ?*" * Then be lifted his hat, took her ?J$- ? la *Nrk trembling hand, smiled on ffl| her, 'in* a fricadly way, and said he £?, .was"gtod to meet.her. :" 4 IIM general manager of the Bee jL:' Idße was glad Co meet her ! "., She trembled so that she could i' ; hardvy stand, and yet she did not, s gladly sank: into the i-cfiair he. asked her to* take, while ho ■ skill and experience at work. .; She wondered if he were able to redd , her. unfitness. How, was she to know, tf%fcat t he, *as gating at her because "'- nB , whA not take his eyes off her -fa©*?, ~ t4r 5,- . ... Gordon," he said. " Which do you prefer ? " ~~ f Oh, I I can use them ail,'* she ''■ aid in a scared little voice'; then, with greater courage, " but I like .•;■. tbiß make beat. I thinE.'i '• ' She indicated a machine slic hud , used most. " Atl rightT' He pressed a button 'and the coloured man came. "Peter, F letter-heads and blanks (or UlissGor-i "jyiUgil. Sow Miss Gordon, if you ore V.Aafi her dash into the business was '"gun. From his seat the general manager could read her face without bWnj; iseen by her. Long and toilfol prac'Uce had made her really a tj.,iM'ck -.writer of shorthand, and she ImindJted the machine well and read without hesitation. She was soon afo- , aorhed in her work, but it was al'„'s,.'9 oet "s s oon finished, and she rose £ lo hand the great man the sheets of 25-paper she had filled, and then rcpalpitating, to her chair. Ho . pead them slowly and critically, and' 1 fj*ep he hud read them he said,| %'Tbal will do for the*present. Miss |Oordon. I will ring for you when •yY *v««j mi ,vou. -ji ne ieii aw wrest in her it did not show i »-I»shicsslike words. ; I ( "Bead this," said the general'l fer, handing the newly written, 1 ! ■'to Maxson as soon as thb t J>Bd gone. The young man did t was bidden, then handed theitt' c »■■■■'■• I r • you hear that lunacy I gave i S&Hfe* the general manager, t dd say did," replied Max- a , s .emphatic rising reflection!. • great consolation to me. to know that I'm not the b ot on this car ' He assum- S 4»ageness he did not feel, be- '< fcMefS"* 1 *° ,ie th< ' t,nsiost w " *$ ner '" th « gen- s fa r #?

have evter had, bul one, would hand in anything -I handed out ; bad sentia bad grammar, and all. Hut do s'ou see how tins came back ? Everything as straight as the book itself. By George, she's a wonder !. " Than he looKed hard at the young man and added : •• And you've put me in a nice fix ! " " WeH," said Maxson warmly, "fire her. I'll pay the freight, I tell you.' " You knew that a woman lias tio more place in rhis car than a pel pony, and yet you believed that fool ! message." " Fire her \ " hali shouted Maxson. " Give her a good letter, and lire her so far you'll never see her light, and draw on me.'' " Sho is no-Thing but a half-grown,, innocent unsuspecting!, confiding childi and sho trusts us implicitly—you can l see it in her ifacc," the general maw-j agcr went on, as though talking to himself. " Just a sweet, unccmtainrl inated child, tramping around tho country with two things like you and mvs, and no chaperon ! " pursued the general manager, as though he haid not heard a word. Maxson merely twisted in his chair and chewed at his cigar. His hat was tilted so that the general manager could not sec the smile on his face. '• Giddy old bachelor oi a general .manager,." continued tho melancholy voice, "at conferences of shippers, and Chamber of Commerce banquets, and gentlemen's agreement meetings, Iwith a girl with a notebook and the face of an angel tagging around alter me. Lovely arrangement ! Friend of mine fixed H up for me ! And she's a lady., too, and too guileless to fee where it put her. A la dy," His voice had begun in derision), but it ended in pathos. " Yes," snapped Maxson', making a line show of hot temper as he whirled about from the window ; " and a lady who broke down and cried at the hint of honest work . and ready money. I can just tell " you that I am glad I brought her. You ought to have seen her talk in the car last night. This trip has 4jcen a vision of fairyland to her." -' Yes," said the general manager dryly, " that makes it easy to drop her off now,' 1 Then he turned to his desk again. It waa a busy morning he put in with Ms new clerk. .There wertf things that puzzled her, but she was e alert to loarn. Letters, telegrams, k memoranda and what not accumulay ted. first in their notelTobks and then n on the desk. She forgot the sway t and rumble, the strange new couns try which she had never- seen before, y but which was now steadily slipping 1_ by her window as she worked, for n she wrought on with an intensity 1 that won- Meradith's respect for her

powers and affection for her stcadtast:icss. Her awe had abated, but there remained with her the uplllting senste of elevation. She was the right hand of one oY the great industrial forces of the country; no longer a gazer at a passing private car, but an essential part of the great machinery of brain and nerve within it. She fongot the lap?c of time till Mei'adiWi said : " I thinkj that will do for this morning, Mis;l Gordon. Now, if you will go to your room and get a bit of rest we will have lunch in half an hour." He held open the door for her, and she slipped, smiling and happy, into, the passage. The luncheon, gay with Maxson's jest and Sferaidith's quiet reparteel. surpassed in interest for her the other meals she had eaten. " After it they all sat together in th'j rear platform while a swift hour hurled fifty miles behind thorn. Then the two returned to their work, while Miaxson wholly satisfied with /himself, | smoked and napped. I (To be continued.)