The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-05-28
A QUEER TRANSACTION.
Related by CONFIDENTIAL Man to
Brown, Smith g. Jones.

Twas a young lawyer, and had the
reputation Of being shrewd, and do
honestly believe that had / remained
at the bar might have been fairly sue
cessful. had no idea of leaving it until
Brown, of Brown, Smith tSJones, came
to me and said: y
sAs you know, old Foss, our. conf
Dental man, is dead. We think it bet
ter to fill his place with young man,
and have come to offer it toyou."
The firm had a private bank, and
dealt In steelss.@It also did considers
BILE cargo insurance, placed loans,
bought mortgages, shaved notes, and
made money in other dignified and re-
spectacle ways. 1t had been doing bust
ness for twenty years, and was rated
conservative and sound. s.
The only curious thing about the
firm was the trio composing it. Brown
was an old bachelor of fifty. He was
tall, angular and homely, and the only
woman whom he could endure was his
landladY.- Smith was five years older
aHH married, but had no children. He
was short, fat and taciturn, never
speaking to anybody when he could
help it. His wife never went into soci-
ETY. and Smith never entered a church.
Jones was a little man, almost small
enough to be called dwarf, but with
an awful dignity about him. He was
over forty, single man, but was pop
ularly supposed to be looking around. y
There were rumors that some one had
once called him ''the Napoleon of the
West" and If he had any particular
weakness, it was that of attending
Thursday evening prayer meeting. No
business matter, no matter how impor-
tant, could prevent his regular attend
nnce, although. he took no active part in
the exercises, and was never known to
contribute dollar to the church.
Having accepted the post found my
duties to be almost numberless.
opened the mail, sorted the letters, and
attended to the correspondence. l
checked on the cashier, verified all
balances, investigated all risks, hunted
up the standing of all would-be- borrow
ers, and to great extent had charge of
the entire business. In less than a week
had found that each one of the firm
had his official popularity as follows:
Brown would never open the mail.
Smith would never answer letter.
Jones would never sign check.
The street called them "conserva-
tives," but the street never met them in
the private office, and consequently did
not know of their oddities. The morn
ing programme was a very funny one.
/ reached the Office at $50 sharp. At
exactly $40 Jones come in. At s:46
peared. The last man Of the firm name
was the first to appear. As each en-
tered he hung up his hat on his own
particular hook, sat down in his own
particular chair, picked up his own
daily paper, and none of them ever rec
ognized each other by as much as a
bow. At $3.50 had the mail opened,
they laid aside their papers, and the
business of the day came up to be dis
cussed.
4 1t took me couple of years to fall
Unto the ways of these strange men, but
in spite of their eccentricities they were
very kind to me, and trusted me almost
without limit. Everything had run
along very smoothly, and nothing what
ever had happened to break the routine,
when something dropped from the clear
sky. Our private offices were arranged
so thateI occupied the first, which was
also consulting room. Then each OF
the firm had private Office back OF
that, and each retired to 1t when not
otherwise engaged. One forenoon, at
eleven o'clock, while was alone in the
front office, lady entered It was
rarely thata woman had any business
with us beyond the teller's window, and
was considerably surprised at the
presence of this one. She was about
twenty five years old, handsome as a
picture, and soon had reason to de-
clare to myself that her manners were
fascinating. She took my breath away
Y by inquiring If Brown was in. So
far as the legends of the Office went he
had never yet been interviewed by a
woman, and hesitated to reply to her
direct question. v
II have business of Importance with
him. she continued, land desire to
see him in his private office. 1t is the
first one TO the left, believe. PRAY
don't trouble yourself to announce me.
She went to the door and raped
Brown opened 1t, and when he saw hel
standing there he turned pale and
staggered back. She entered ant
closed the door behind her, and wa,