The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1892-07-30
CLERKS in love are requested by
the management not to think OF
the adored object between the
hours of nine a. m. and six p. m.
"BY ORDERu

Now George Peters was very, rerv
methodical person for SO young a man
When letter got into Peters hands it
went through certain routine and the
answer departed from him to the copy
ing book and from the copying book to
the envelope and the envelope, letter
and all, with Enclosures marked, went
into the letter box with regularity
that nothing but the office clock could
emulate, and even that, the clerks said,
was not as regular as Peters, for they
claimed 1t was always fast in the morn
ing and mighty slow in pointing to six
o'clock.
1t is little wonder, then, that Peters
stood high in TIE confidence of old man
Bentham. Bentham was Bentham
Brothers & Co. There were no broth
ers and no company-that was merely
the firm name-it was all Bentham
Perhaps there once were brothers and
perhaps there was once company,
but that is all ancient history, anyhow,
and has nothing to do with this strictly
modern story. And it did not interfere
with the fact that old Bentham's name
was lovely thing to have at the bot
tom of a large check.
The clerks never speculated on the
probable effect of love on Peters, be-
cause it never occurred to them that
such thing as Peters falling in love was
within the bounds of possibility. Love,
they argued, was not an article that
can be docketed and ticketed and re-
3sEred back for further information,
aMasentered in the day book and posted
0q the debit or credit side of ledger,
so: what on earth could Peters do with it
q he had it? Manifestly nothing. If
they had known as much about human
nature as you or ], they would have
surnlssd that when Peters did fall It
was tineto stand from under.
And who should Peters fall in love
with but the very woman of all others
whom he ought never have given a
thought to-in other words, pretty lit
tie Miss Sadie Bentham, if you please.
1t made Peters himself cold when he
thought OF it, for he knew he had Just
as much chance of getting the moon or
the laureateship as the consent of old
man Bentham. The clerks always said
that it was Miss Sadie who fell in love
with Peters, principally, l suppose, be-
cause she should have known better,
and think my selfthere is something to
be said for that view of the matter.
Anyhow, she came to her fathers place
OF business very often and apparently
very unnecessarily, but the old man
was always pleased to see her, no mat
ter how busy he happened to be- At
first she rarely looked at Peters, but
when she did fash one of those quick
glances of hers at him poor Peters
thought ne had the fever and ague. He
understood the symptoms later on.
l don't know how things came to a
climax; neither do the clerks, for that
matter, although they pretend to. Be-
sides. they are divided in their opinions,
SO ! think their collective surmises
amount to but very little. johnson
claims that it was done over the I ele
phone, while Farnam says she came
to the office one day when her father
was not there and proposed to Peters on
the jiPot. One thing the clerks are
unarsnnons about, and that is that Pc
,,ss.S9 - himself, would never have
~ pc eeusage, stu, tee much AZ.