Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-04-01
BROWN, SMITH & JONES.

Twas young lawyer. and had the rcpu.
tation Of being Ahrrwd, and do honestly
believe that had | remained NJ the bar !
might have bcen fairly successful ! had
no idea Of leaving Il untn brown, Of Brown,
Smith & Jones. came 10 me and said;
As you know. old Foes, our confidential
man, a. dead. We think Il better 10 an hi.
place with young man. and | have come
% offer A. TO YOU"
III. firm had private hank. aud dealt
in stocks. Il also did considerable cargo
Insurance, placed loans, bought mort gngrs.
shaved notes, aud made money In other
dgnlilcd and respcciable wRyN Il had
been doing business for twenty years. and
was rated conservative aud sound.
The only curioie thing about the q N
WINS the trio composing Il. Brown was sn
old bachelor ~ 20 lie was tall, angular
aud homcly. aud tho only woman whom
he could endure was his landlsdy. smith
wa, Nv. year. older aud married. but had
NO children. lie WINS short. fat and tact.
turn, never speaking 10 anybody when he
could help Il. His wife never went Into
society. and Smith never entered church.
Jonta was n little man. almost small
enough 10 be called dwarf. but with an
awful dignity about him. lie wns over W,
n single man, but was popularity supposed
10 H. looking around There were rumors
that some one had once called him "thc
Napoleon Of the West, and II he had any
particular weakness II was that Of attend.
Ing ThursdAy evening prayer meeting. No
business matter no matter how important.
could prevent his regular attendance, al
though he took no active part In the cxer-
else~, and WIS never known 10 cont nbutcn
dollar 20 the church.
Having accepted the post found my
duties 10 10 almost nunbcrlc-s opened
the mall, sorted the letter. and attended 10
the correspondence. I checked" on the
cashier. verified all balances. Investigated
NIL risks, hunted up the standing OF all
would be- borrowers, and 10 great extent
had charge Of the entire business. In les
than week found that each one ~ the
frm had his official popularity, ~ follows
brown would never open the mail.
Smith would never answer letter.
Jones would never sign check.
The street called them conservative"
but the street never met them Ia the prl.
vat. oiiloe. aud consequently did not know
Of their oddities. The morning programme
was q very funny one. | reached tho ofiice
Mt $50 sharp. At exactly $50 Jones came
IN. At s;H Smith entered. Al $50 Brown
appeared. The last man ~ the firm name
was the first TO appear. As each entered
he hung up his hat on his own particular
hook. sat down In his own particular chair,
picked up his own daily paper, and mona oi
them ever recognized each other by na
much an bow. Al $40 | had the mail
opened, they laid aside their papers. and tho
business ofthc day came up TO be discussed.
IL took me q couple Of years 90 fall into
the ways OF these strange men, but Ia spite
OF their eccentrlcitlcs they wers very Kind
To me and trusted me almost without lin.
It, Everything had run along very smooth.
ly, and nothing whatever had happened 10
break the routine. when something dropped
from clear sky. Our private Offices were
arranged No that occupied the ilrst, which
was also consulting room. Then each 81
the hrn had private office back Of that,
and each retired to It whom not otherwise
engaged.
One forenoon, at II o'clock, while was
alone In the front onloc, n lady entered. lt
was rarely that u woman had any business
with Us beyond the teller's window, aud
was considerably surprised NJ the presence
Of this one. She was about - years old.
handsome rs u picture, and soon had rea.
sou 10 declare 20 myself that her mAnnes
were fascinating. She took my breath
away by lnqurng II brown was In. So
far as the legends Of the Office went he had
mover yet been interviewed by woman,
and hesllated TO reply TO her direct quea.
ton.
II have business Of Importance with
him" she continued. aud desire 10 sec him
In his private Office, II is the first one on
the left, believe. Pray don't trouble your.
self TO announce me-
She went to the door and raped. Brown
opened IL, aud when he saw hor standing
therc he turned pale and staggered back.
khe entered, and closed the door bchind
her, aud was cloiotcd with him full hour.
II was dumfounded at this action, was
almost paralyzed 40 his conduyl ~ they
eaue out He was actually bowling and
Amlrking, aud trying to he Rallant-hc the
man who Insisted that his landlAdy should
ncyeremploy female servant unless she
was hunohbnck or cross cyell lie FOL.
lowed her through the room, and out To
The door Of the bank. aud when he returned
he was smiling blandly, and his lips weru
moving "a II talkingto himself. lie didn't
say word 10 me, II he had | could not
nave replied TO him, u was completely
knocked out.
After that day noticed a marked change
IN Brown. Tie seemed 10 thnw QUITO
take more interest In life, and caught ON
70 the TACT that he was writing private let
ters 10 some one, One day he added 10 nv
sstonishment by calling me into his nriyat,