The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1883-12-06

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very comely young person. simply but
admirably dressed, and conveying by
her quiet dignity and composure fun in
formation as to her social surroundings.
MIR. Parker was pre-eminently "a person
Of taste; he knew instInetiyely what
was good. not only in quality but in
form, and before he had asked his Wis
itor to be seated he had given her the
benefit of his unqualified approval. The
young lady hesitated a moment, as if
the business in hand were new to her,
bur her voice betrayed no nervousness
when she said, noting the overcoat on
his arm:
81 win detain you only a moment. /
learned yesterday that there was a va
cancy in your office, and, although I
have had no experience in such posi-
ton, should like the opportunity of
trying to fill it,
Mr.. Parker instantly determined to
place her at the vacant desk; she gave
him such an impression of finish and
completeness that he was sure she would
do anything well.
1.-The place is not particularly de-
sirable one he said, before answering
her applications; "the work is entirely
clerical, and not very interesting, l
fear.
1.-THE nature of the work win not
trouble me if can only do it." was the
reassuring reply of Miss Ferguson;
whereupon Mr.. Parker asked her to
come the next morning, and, in paren-
thesis, as if it were a matter of small
moment, mentioned the compensation
she would receive. He held the door
open as she passed out, and then fol-
lowed her down stairs at a becoming
dfcfanon Mora Thor, nc nn 1l~aA
up the avenue to his room, he ques-
toned the wisdom of his speedy de-
cisiOn; but whenever a doubt arose it
was instantly confronted by that grace
full and finely-poised figure, and was
dissolved into thin air. More than once,
too, a shade of annoyance rested on his
face at the thought of the missing manu-
script, but the soft splendor of the Oc-
tober afternoon and the brilliant throng
of carriages and pedestrians crowding
the avenue diverted his mind from his
work, and made him keenly receptive
of the movement and charm of his sur
roundings.
The next morning, at the appointed
time, Miss Ferguson was at her desk,
Her training was Immediately eYident;
she seemed to know what was to be
done by instinct, and needed no fuller di-
not only mastered the details of her
work, but by systematization had so re-
duced it that she asked for more, and
had been assigned more difficult and
eXacting tasks. Mr. Parker had brief
interviews with her, and treated her
with the studious courtesy which he ac-
corded to all women. He watched her
work closely, and noted the fact that
she was not only exact, but showed a
general intelligence far beyond the re-
quirements of her pos ton. Mean
while the missing manuscript had not
been found, and the editor was becom-
ing hardened on the subject, when a
note, in a delicate feminine hand,
reached him through the mail one
morning, and reminded him that, al
though the sketch had been in his hands
more than month, no intimatiOn of its
fate had reached the writer. Instantly
Mr.. Parker's perplexity returned, in
creased fourfOld; the sketch had inn
pressed him as very original and
striking piece of work, and he was
really anxious to print it; he was disap-
pointed, therefore, as an editor keenly
alive to the value of good work, and he
was also embarrassed in sending any
communication to the author Suppose
she had kept no copy, or had destroyed
the original draft He was at his W is
ends when his eye fell upon small case
of manuscripts that for lack of return
postage or failure to send addresses had
been filed until called for; it was barely
possible that the missing story had
strayed into the repository of Unsuccess-
full literature. just before leaving the
Office that afternoon he sent tor Miss
Ferguson,
g am in a dreadful dilemma, Miss
Ferguson" he said, smilinglv q
have lost a manuscript, or at least mis-
laid it. 1t was a story entitled John
DOlline's Quest, and was written, if my
recollection serves me, on unruled
letter-paper. The story was so remark
able that / should exceedingly regret to
lose it, to say nothing of my embarrass-
ment in conveying that fact to the
writer 1t is barely possible that the
manuscript has been put into this case,
and l am going to ask you to make the
search.
At the mention of the name of the
missing manuscript Miss Ferguson had
flushed slightly, and when Mr.. Parker
had ended she said hesitatingly: "Did
you say it was a stOry?"
Yes, or, perhaps, mere accurately,
a character study, of uncommon power.
It gave an account of a man who, in a
moment of great temptation, committed
a sin and lost all sense of his personal
identity, and whose whole subsequent
life was a search for himself. 1t was a
very striking piece of work"
Miss Ferguson had already turned to
the case, and Mr.. Parker did not see
the deepened color on her face. He
had no sooner gone than she abruptly
closed the little glass doors and returned
to her desk. The next morning Mr..
Parker was delighted to find =" John
Dolline's Quest lying on his desk; he
was so thoroughly pleased that he failed
TO note how tired Miss Ferguson looked
when he went into her room to thank
her, or the more singular fact that the
manuscript lacked both date and num-
Der.
A month later "John Dolline's
Quest" was in the hands of seventy
thousand readers in all parts of the
world, and, curiously enough, they