Orange County observer., 1891-07-25

hept Ills OEiul OiIICl1t severity.
He was signing checks. 1t was one
Of the most serious moments Of his life
He looked up and saw the chip hat
cooked On top Of the brown hair He
leaned back in his cathedral chair anc
fastened his commercial eye on his check
book
"Well, young woman, want dis
Greet confidential s.cretary to answer cor
respondents. She's got TO be here a, ter
O'Clock every morning, attend to business
strictly, and she don't ge. away till two
or three The salary is s12 a week. Dc
you think you can get down to that kind
OF drudgery for that pittance and keep the
busines in this room!"
All that Cline ever heard was a de-
mure little "Yes, sir, that had the
same suggestion of tremolo in it that
one gets from raspberry Jelly
"All right / cant bother ith you
to day; come tomorrow and Cline fell
to signing checks, and Chip Hat went
away, and the young man outside poked
his nose through the crystal portal O.
his barrier, pucHered his lips and Tipped
two or three bars of 'sThc Maid with the
Milking Pail after ncr
".
The little office with the cathedral
was an instrument under the sash, vita a,
| black tin roof over it, and little sailor
hat, with a blue ribbon on it, hun. on
the bronze peg opposite the door
! Now, then, said Cline, putting on
, most forbidding air Of strict business
"You understand that the matter for
which have engaged you is entirely
aside from the regular business Of this
Office By the way, what shall | call
vou2 Miss what, Chalcev? Well, never
mind the Nelly, III call you Miss Chalcey,
it's more business like; and don't want
you to talk outside OF this room about
any Of the business you have to transact
that straight to begin with therc'ii De
no trouble
| Il !
wards him and said, "Yes, sir" sc
meekly and patiently and profounly that
he noticed her eyes. They were agates
moss aeates, by ,Jove. Funny little
spots in them that swan and danced
round and melted into cacl other IN tia
most absurdly molten way, as ii there
might be little caldrons under then
where the light was bollet and sottened
The worst of it was they always seemed
10 be lust on he point Of boiling over
as of light, like music, had some KIND Q
inscrutable pathos in it.
"
So they got along very nicely wlthou
any nonsense Cline would come il
about half past ten or eleven, look t
see if the sailor hat was hanging on tht
peg, gruut out, Good morning, Mis-
Chalcey," and then sit down at his desl
to open letters. Sometimes she woalf
sit demurelv for half an hour, her hea'
turned. looking out of the one clear Int
tie pane in the cathedral window straigh
at Bob Slocum's Gothic office opposite
where there was never anything to Sc
exce,t Bob Slocum's window shades, an'
tnat piece of telegraph tape that dan5le~
forever from the wires o7erncld, in spit
Of all the sparrows that hai tried to pal
it off. AT other times Cline would die
tate. and then the click Of the lnstru
ment drowIel the monotonous chirp 9
, the anitors bulinch tnlt was whlstlin
! somewhere.
OF course she got TO know ali about
what il was he was trying to do-an
| be grew TO consult her on some OF tn
details. Like a good girl she put he
3 whole heart into it aad really tried I
I help him all she could t. find the wife l
wanted. How could she help it, "a
| II 3,'t h.l,, +ir,ii ~