The Storyteller.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7842, 7 June 1905, Page 4

The Storyteller.

jV A PHASE OF MY COTJKJSKtPi \ " You -kiipw, Farkes," tha manager tfogan,. swinging back in his Chair, 'I • " Smith at our Ccfndibpnff branch Is !•'* awfully bad." ' - •• Yes,., sir,-1 hoard ha was batf," I - said, civilly enough. •*' Well," he went on in his brutal , manner," " tho fact is, ha must have j ,1' a change." r/' i I knew what was coming. I was tot | shunted out to nmlia room for. hmi At last Smith was going to "JV" do me'a bad turn. !">. " " We're not hard on our employees. 5"" (what did - he call Una ? ) and wQ like tt> give theih every chance. We Ts want to do what we can for him.

ft -bo I've been thinking-it over. That's Br why ! called you, there's no time to sii be losf:"' • ■ 1 ' "No t'imo to be lost ? " Good Heavens !' In kicking-me out. Just It" at-, the time when my future fcappineSs hung on my billet. That's

W-'k what -comes of bpiag civil to yeur [j... 'jUoss andsulteify4j in silence*; he mistakes you for a coward-, and jgJ- Jumps on you with both Sect- ttoij . lirst time he gets a chance, "Well," Mr Bulliman," that was fr; his name" arid he lived up to it—"l'd like you to remember my work is fe •' about the most imp—r—fiji. " |Yes, yes ; I know all afctoutj ' that," he said airily, interrupting me K& '.'Without apologising, "but StiibM SB. could-share it with Green—at least, jp,- for a time." jjP" His coolness staggered me, but I kept at my guns. j jfeft " I've bteen here for the last tea) | K& years, and in all that itiro» ■ ■ H?--- " I know, I know, that's why I selected you." ' Ifis candour struck me dumb. "Now, when can you go?" Bfi* I felt' my knees and jaws get loose lE.|. in the joints but I wasn't going to p? -' bo kicked out like a dog toy. any gj£' bully—man or boy. " do you expect m» to go 9" just to give myself Citue ta •* iorni some plans. " This evening if possible ; to-nmi*-r&w uionring at the latest." C • What got over mo was he was so - douffodiy poiiKs over it all, jou'tt -have thought he was doing me' a ; good turn. "Wait a lit," I said menacingly,"1 have someone to consult (I *, mean a solicitor), before I answer that question." Then I asked, ' witha sarcasm that would have cut a*yone with a knife. • f .."'Why, may I ask, did you select -mo for, this honour ?." i " There's not much honpur in (it, ,'buV I'm glad you look at it lik« >. that. 1 have al ways thought you it KV sqnsible fellow, and 4 l have coafldenea - in you. We'll wire Smith, then?!" £ lie went on at such a Speed that ' ■ to reminded me ®f a motor ear yp roc;.. I couldn't keep up. * I was un--prepared, hadn't goggles on, and that S-i flying pebbles got in my ey»—l £.7' could not sec half a second ahead. PJ "You see, you must see Smith bofore he leaves, apil his doctor says he should not leavo later than tonw>rrow All his yooks are behind, so you've got your pork cut! If i Dot—honour or no honouri It's aa ' • opijoi'tunity for you, though, and I'd f~ like you to get away to-night; ft I*. - .would relieve me." ■Pv .' liless my soul '. Was that what the 1 iU®gar was driving at all the time? Why didn't he then ft * bim by just taking the sick inaii~ -«gcr's place at our Rendobong ft-: branch ? I'd have taken fifty numa--I*' gcr's places, and shown tii«m : all v round. Is? IJuP-inian's riot half o bad sort— wfku you get to know what he's *-■- driving aV I told bo that % \ same day. " Take him quietly, like , I do," I said, " and you'll come out fc. cn top all right." But ho said ho 5* ■ had afjout as' much respect for weather-cocks as ho had for bullies. 1 couldn't see what he -wis diTVifij? .. at, so I let him alone, j While I was adjusting my menial v./ eqjiililjrium, I hoard liuUiiian read J' out fhe wire—|is&' "Arrangements satisfactory. Parkes l' -takes over branch. Xeavo mail jS tonnight. Bullinmn." < . Then I thought of Katie-. I was * goir- .. waj- till Smith was better. It J , might be weeks, it might be months. 'How soro' she would be ! Though I j,V knew her heart would beat proudly}

frltta she kngw I was a picked wan, tf I eould only tell her myself f bjii f there was no hope, Bulliman Was , fcent oft my going flat nigilt'. 1 trietl him. , , " Wpuljl it matter very Yuuch, sii'4 I if X coifldn't go till Friday morn*- | ing ? " I "It would aatt&r very much in- . ( deed. Can't you understand that the I office is at a standstill, and what is ; . 1 there t« keep you here ? " I hr—w—a little private business." ' I It was a itrst-class oj>portunity to f propose, unfi fix things up. Parting is like death to girls, and it gives a fellow such" an advantage. Besides J it would have made my mind eusier ' to know Katie was fixed up if anything happened to her father while 1 was (alwaj. I felt lik# IboSißg after yms of that faifiiily, and, »s I'vn , said tasfore, there's aitfcing like prepariag. fov tte w«rst. as i very well understood from the time my lather used bwko* me witk his for«linger into his room, to have a word" wttK " Private (bushtusj," repeated Buliitoaa, anything v«ry important ? " " 'Vos," i saii «uiickly—he seemed ;iik* giving way—" wy mportant." " Look here, than," and he leant owarts mo in a confidential manner ■ give me all the particulars, and 'll fix it up for you myself. Make ■our mind quite easy oa Chat point, fcrkes." X wasn't nearly as grateful as he earned to tWimk I ought to be. Ye jods ! Fancy oW " Bully " talking o Katie about, love! He'd have stared hor, arid ruined my cha»ees>., ;t beats me how Mrs " Buliy " tveii raine to marry feintl '• Thinks, «wfufly," J said ; " I'll &• whal 1 do to-day." '' Very well, then. You had better take the afternoon off, aid I'l'i be up, it the station to-night with some tetters for 'you." I broke the news as gently as I :ou!d tt> Stubbs, but he was nasty ib crut it-. " "WHo'S. goißg! to do your work,, I'd like to know 1 *' be asksd, without congratulating me. "You and Green'." " Green ? Hiat kid ? It's Ukq ' Bully's' cheek, working me to, death. Why canft he get another fellow ? He's, the meanest boss I ever tad." 1 Being ji prospective -manager, I felt Stubb'ti languags was too free, and I Ist him know it,; " Stubbs, managers have their difficulties," 1 said, with dignity, of which you know nothing." "1 Hullo ! " he cried, and turned round, " what db yon Call it ? " " I was goittg to make him sit up for bis impudence, but Green, the Junior, Came in, and I didn't Want him to. hear Stubbs get the worst of it—might have made him riisrespactful while I was away, and hadn't} an eye 011 hfm.

Oh, Katie, with irk a t a heavy heart , I packed my portmanteau ! I was ; fining to write, of course, and ' T wwiM have proposed that way, only she said one day when we were talking about proposals, that the man who Coul'dn't ask a girl straight out, •deserved refusing. I agreed with her at thfc aVwnys did somehow — ifrt crrcumstytfices alter c&scs, as; X tvfluid have liked' to have pointed outj to her then. Trisgs and "Connie" came to See ino oft, and Bullimaa turned up with a bundle of letters and instructions. Biiggs kept 'humming ".Kathleen Mavourneen''—tihat part, " It' May b« for yeara, and it may be for evor"—and my spirits got jolly low, especially when I thought of Katie. " ' MJurs,* old chap," ho said, as the engine whistled, "I'm going Sown to Humpy on Saturday, got any message for Miss Stewart ? I'm bound to see her, and I'll take anything from you but a kiss." Another beggar wanting to- ibUtfere in. my private business. " Thanks, Brings, I can convey my ew» messages," and the train Wa<k <& tor the tunnel. Briggs' remark kept me awake hiih' the »4ght. ; What did. he want to, go! to Humpy for, if not to see Katie ? I had tried to point out to her often what an ordinary, selfish man Brlgjra was, but she persisted in saySng that he was '"a nice man " and reminded her of mc. What if—-Oh', heavens! What if, in the moonlight by the sea, she mistook that likeness for me, and Br.iggs played the traitor ! I must have groaned aloud, for a man opposite me offered me some brandy. Smith tliUn't meet mc—too ill—but an office boy, o»j of my future staff,, did, and took me to decent lodgings. (To b« continued.)