The Romance of a Business Girl.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10712, 16 October 1912, Page 2

The Romance of a Business Girl.

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('"(Ai r n-ill 111. (Continued.) f "i'm afraid J am .stupid," -3'L:r. rue- j fully *!■•>»!•-'< i. "'Look here, Miss- ' '•i.:>„:v Here, Miss Gildere, i tki::'> that J '■•.{••: I'ii'or Miai; MMHiUg ;i :,u_ } \<\ilan •:■. ;;!.'■" Will you lot me I ;<:■• ll .••:l."> :■■• il. :•-•>•", telltale Cllt. Meet mo outi.ido somewhere, if y«:-u don'; ii'.ind. Do \ou know tho Imperial A:t;;':':-.\ Jit !•''<■ bottom of Ludgate Hi!!? I have to pass through it every evening on my way to tho ntilwa.;..'••tiiti.:::, ;i:;d will be there at half p:i?t seven.'* Mi;-;; Gilders .scented romance, and : she wic-ho with half-suppressed eager-1 nes-s. ! "All right," Jim said, shortly. "No nonsense, or 1 shall be here again tomorrow, and may be in a bad humor. ''Yov. are a bin; bully to try and intimidate a girl," she retorted pleasantly. "Trust mo! Now .scoot, or you'll p;et me into hot water with the J' boss. I shall have to lie like anything as it is." Jim nodded and laughed. His doubts had vanished. He walked at a leisurely pace to ■ the Tni'perial Arcade, and paced slowly up and down until he felt some- ' body at his oNxw. and heard Miss Gilders' voice in his ear. ' "Here T am, sir, and ray train poos in ten minutes, so you'll have to be lively with your proposals. No, I shan't give Miss Fleming's address without her pennision, and T want n straight tale to tell her. You see T am a business girl." •Tim winced. In some way the term "busi'ifM girl" had become very distasteful, to him. "Business rubbish! Whenever I hear a man or woman boast of their business qualities, I know that they are humbugs at the game. Now then. Miss Gilders, T am prepared to offer Miss Fleming a situation in mv office—clerical work—good salary." "Whether she, is capable or not?" Miss Gilders n skwl coldly. "What, do you call a good salary?" "A couple of pounds a week," hazarded Jim. . j "My! Can't you do with another lady secretary at the same price? I think that you may take it that the offer is accepted. J don't know your name, *ir." "Stupid of mo. Here is my card. When and where caw T see Miss Fleming?" "Give me a minute to think, please. T don't want to rut mv foot in it. ?Jiss FU-mino- might think this, was j a charitable dodge, and. as site is as j proud as Lucifer, there would be a» end to it. If you take my advice you would drop the salary to a guinea a week, and I really think that yoii ,had better put the pretwsition to her per- . sonally." j "I am of that opinion, too." Jim j hopefully said. J "Yes, it is all right," Miss Gilders decided. "You are not the man to pull the wool over any woman's eyes. Come along. I live at Dulwich, in the Upland Itoad, and Miss Fleming has rooms a few doors away from my liome. Now T shan't toll you another thing about her; she must do that for .herself.' ' Jim, gripped the girl's arm, and unceremoniously hurried her in a taxicab, j "Never mind the train this time,.. Miss Gilders. Give the -company the | benefit of your seat. 1 hate the foul-| smelling cars, iwith folk packed away as close as sardines. Then there is j a walk of a mile or more from Peckham Ilye Station to Dulwich. The caxieab will take us right up to our door." ' "Lovely!" sighed Miss Gilders, as ings three doors above, and the cab. "How plendid it must be to" be a man. —a sort of master of destiny." Jim smiled, and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought that men were at a discount in these days of revolutionary women," he said. "They want to steer the great ship which men have created." "Don't count me among them, Mr Carling. We business girls can appreciiito comfort when we get the chance." Jim winced for the second time that evening, and said no more until the taxicab was running smoothly I in Upland Itoad. "Is Miss Fleming usually at home at this hour?" he asked. "Always. T suppose she has been : tramping about London on the lookout for a job. That is my home over there—the Limes. My father used , to be a law stationer, but he is out of

BY F. L. DACRE Author of "A Fleet of D p-juhk," ":-\\av s .Vlonev," "The Shado ;• ■;.( ■-." "A Hiiu-.-

' i-,i>;!. , "s-; !;:>■■.. JJ:,-;.i Ki--':.:i:g r.at; 1-xig-ings tiu-eii! t'.iw.s r.hov-, ar.d x,iio houso is called Ferndiile. What h.igh-f;:i-.!un' names they give to otioap <-ot.;);.;es i;ow;:d:iys." The t:i.<:!;v..-.' s'. ripped a' lihts Gilders' liou.se, iir.d Jim got down. He ..,,,....,,,;! r ..* n 0 f i K , I,;:;-J«, and sjiid, "good night." "I y.hv.l go in ard se-e her after you have gone," eho warned him. I hope it will como off all right. Mr Carling," she added mischievously, "1 believe that you are i n love with her. Don't go and make a m-ess of thine-;, like Captain Mavhew <M. I oan't make out why some of flic decent men over look at mo twice. Good night." Jim walked to the front door of the house called Ferndale, and rang the bell. His heart was thumping like a triphammer. Then at tho sound of footsteps ft stopped dead, only to leap and thrill again when he was told by an old man in carpet slippery that Miss Fleming was at home. The slippers were a brilliant scarlet — a bright spot on tho well-worn brown oilcloth that covered the floor of the passage. Tho wearer was very old, and his withered face seemed to shrink behind his patriarchal white beard. The eyes peered expectantly, deep in their socets, but they beamed with kindness. Such impressions at crucial moments sink deep info the heart, and are associated with some particular thing, for good or ovil, as long as life lasts. "Come in. sir," tho old man invited rroniivllv, "and I'll send your iiamov to Mis.s Fleming. She is in upstairs. Won Id vou mind lighting the gas for me? You are taller than T am, and T have a bit of rheumatism in mv shoulders." "With pleasure," said Jim. "Here is my card." ;He 'hung his hat O" a pe? in the dusky hall, and. obedient to the ''etions of his 'guide, turned into a sitting room on the left. This wan ;ilso in darkness, and he was jus- 1 , renovating the How of gas when Mi«s Fleming walked in, his w<] hetwce-i b«r fingers.' The recognition wan swift. and for a space the girl stood trans-. I fixed and perplexed. The color mounted to her face, and those wonderful eyes of hers expressed a world of language. "Yes, Miss Fleming, it's me." Jim blurted out. his grammar. "Tfcw do you do?" 'Oh, there was no doubt nho"t h«attractiveness. She was tnll and wellmade —not quite-so graceful as Lady Laura, perhaps, but Lnrlv Laura's | sinuous movements were v>ot nltc-M--•her to his taste. Neither had Mi:-.s , F.lomive- the classical fea+ures r.f Tadv Laura, but he vowed wit'"'" +.l, a + r-b« wns f nr better iurr. Hor hair ti-^ s dark, her c.^irt-n-i I d-1 eves ivei-n flo r l.-, ?.«,- J f-,0 F.-'-niri/ip of r< til 1 " " r, d she W".« I alrntvnf lU>..1 U >.. .nd^rab Wiles and do. I cention hero? Good heavens —no' But the chaste lios ba.-l parted. nr>d *he was sp<*nkh"\ T- T er .beating so fast fast that she .-poke almost c.hokily. f (To bo Continued.)