Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1882-12-07

unpleasant contrast to her fathers we'll
appointed board. The soiled linen, tn,
muddy coffee, the heavy cakes, only IN
creased her inconsistencies. The board
ers were shop girls, vapid and silly;
( few gentlemen clerks in dry-good
houses. The talk around the table wa
) about like the usual boarding house
gossip. She did not believe she coulc
find friend among them all, although
they treated her with brqsque polite
! sVhile she waited for Office hours, she
\ tried to tidy up her room, and placed q
7 few familiar keepsakes about the walls
two or three pictures, a tiny bureau,
a hanging work basket, and her fathers
picture in it's velvet frame. On the table
were her medical books, a Shakespeare,
!! "a dictionary, and two or three volumes
4 of poems. 1t was with heavy heart tina!
i she found her way out of the house and
took a car. When she reached the of
flee her heart almost failed her. Clerks
were busy writing, people passing in
I and out. She finally mustered courage
to inquire for Mr.. Hay, and, was shown
into itkle office, further on. A gray
I..haired man sat by his desk reading
manuseript, now and then scowling and
making a vigorous dash with his pencil.
4 She presented her~letter, and was told
to be seated, in 8, quick, business tone.
When the senior member of the great
4 publishing firm had finished the letter,
he swung round on his chair.
4 "Miss Cleayeland,I am happy to see
you. How is your father?n "He is
gone, sir; he died suddenly with heart
disease !" Ipdeedt am greatly
shocked. 1 remember he told me, when
| saw him last, that his heart had
troubled him. Your father spoilt tine
literary career by becoming q country
doctor.'' "He was called a good doc
tor sir.'' ssHe was good doctor, his
reputation extended beyond his own inn
mediate region" And then Mr.. Hav
remembered his manuscript, which all
this time he had held in his hand, and
scowled again. elbow can 1 serve you,
Miss CleaYeland?n And then Alice told
! him frankly her situation, and that she
was dependent entirely upon herself.
This Mr.. Hay was called a very gruff
man. Had Alice. known him better, she
would not have dared to intrude on him,
since many man and woman, we'll
known, shrank from meeting him. The
audacity of the girl disarmed him, and
then. he had q greats respect for her
father. "What can you do?" he asked,
suddenly. lstAny thing to earn my
bread,'' was the reply. ssCan you write
8 plain hand? do you understand ac-'
counts?" F"Efcan learn, SIR" sVery.
well; l have got behind in my work.
You shall be my. private clerk" and
then he swung back again to his manu-.
script, .scowling and dabbing with his,
pencil She .waitef five minutes, and
then said: ss'Can begin now?"5 ssOh!
whata Yes. i haa forgotten YOU. Sort
these papers; enter them in the appro-i
pristevplace, and he pushed pile Of
papers toward her, pointed to a big book
anda desk and chair near him.
If this girl had not been uncommon in
her training and habits, she would have
found herself unequal to this new life.
She got terribly tired and heart-sick.
Her attic room was dreary and lonely,
but she kept on, her employer saying
little save giving directions in the fewest
words. But all the time Alfred Hay
watched her narrowly, making up his
opinion. She. had been at work six
months, when one day he asked her
suddenly: -"How do you like it; dull,
eh?'' every well, sir; 1 hope am
able to suit yeu?'' He did not reply
directly hut asked her if she ever tried
her hand at literature. ssDid you ever
write any thing?" s'Nothing of any
consequence, she replied. "Try, then,
and bring it to mel The house pub
lished a magazine, and it was this the
publisher had iii mind. i
Alice went home that night, and for
several weeks she was busy in the little
attic. She had managed to get small
stove, and every night had been devoted!
tostudy. At last, one morning when
she went to the office, she handed Mr..
Hay her manuscript. He thrust it into
a drawer and went on with his work.
She thought little about it, but hardly a
month had passed, when she happened
to take up the magazine and found her
article. 1t is very pleasant sensation
to people to see themselves in print for |
the first time, and her article seemed to
have taken ON new dignity with types. /
The publisher said nothing, save to tell
her to try it again. After she had been
there year, and had written half all
dozen articles, Mr.. Hay had long CON-
ference with her. He proposed she
should take position in connection
with tne magazine, experimenting some
department, write occasionally, and as
sist him, in his review of man ascript.
This largely increased her salarys and
varied her work S. She found herself
able to have a more congenial boarding
place; her employer had not the slight
est idea where she lived out of his office.
She could send her mother a monthly
allowance, and If good Deacon Gates
had only told her where he lived. that
fifty dollars should have been paid. She
had it in the bank sacredly set apart for
him. Often she had thought of his
kindness, and wished she might tell him
1ow much he had done for her,
For three yeafS she worked on in this
great publishing house, visiting her
mother once in the TIME. She became
quite necessary to the firm. estsaiary
rad-been repeatedly Increased, and she
now felt quite Independent. It had been
one of her desires to graduate at a med