The courier., 1896-08-08

sgeDert - the repentsnt prodigsi ID
welcomed b, bfs dosing sire. II must
be said 10 his credit. hoseyer. that since
the advent os The Little Gray Giri- hs
had been a. regular - cIocksork 10 his
attention 60 his duties.
As have said. the gift Of the dog
seemed 10 win good deal Tor the Office
Hercules: - for myself, marked Ger
tain things. hithsrto doubtful in mind.
~ certsinties. when ] came 10 At dusk
one evening add found The Little Gray
Girl trimming Mr.. Billy Brsdshawis
finyesnsiIs. The two were alone. and
the tall youth. quite irreproachsbly
dressed now. was leaning lsnguidly back
10 his swivel chair. with his handsome
feet on his desk. his left hand lying in
tnsf Of th. young woman. who was
opei sfing on IL busiIy with a file. He
did not alter his posture at my entrance
nobody cared what the spectscied old
exchange editor might think on any
subject-and there wss q cOmplscent.
exaspcrsting grin on his face that made
me yearn To kick him. She. for her part.
kept ou st her task until il was finished.
though noticed that she kept her little
gray back turned To me. and that there
Was Q charming pink flush in Ler usually
pale cheeks when she finally rise and
returned TO her own desk
No one in the Office, 20 far as ] an,
aware, knew anything whatever Of little
Miss Croissc's affairs. She came and
vent regularly from her work, and she
might have lived in house full OF people
or alone ia q hoveI in Jersey for sught
that anybody knew to the contrary. II
vss shortly after Bradshaw had fallen
into the say u knocking Of work at
about the same time she did, and leav
ing the Office with her-a practice that
reswskened the storms Of envy that had
swept over the others at the first evil
dences Of the mutual sttachment-that
she sstonished every one by remaining
away for full week. On the fourth or
NTH day there came q black bordeIe ed
note addressed to the managing editor.
Every one knew the handwriting was
hers. but no questions were xsked. and
the Old Man himself twho [ can cont
IDENTIFY assert was quite as sorely smitten
as little Perry. the police reporter, the
youngest cub on the staff Of course vol
unteered no explanation. On the fol-
lowing NJ ,nday morning The Little
Gray Curl" came into the Office, but a
little gray girl no longer. She was clad
in deepest black. and about the big soft
eyes there were lines and discolorations
Of the sort created by inceasant weep
ing. We soon learned that she had lost
her mother in the interval.
" course we were more attentive ana
cousiderate than ever after that. There
was no more loud talking, no laughter,
no chan. The atmosphere became one
OF gloom and solemnity. and one hardly
knew whether to cry, TO sing songs OF
praise at the sight OF the heroic manner
in which she stuck 20 her work. / used
to watch her as she sat there sonnet mes
late ri night. her white, nervous fingers
fiving over the paper, and my old heart
sched at the sight. How much longer,
l wondered. would il be till the strain
should become too great and the plucky
little creature collapse utterly!
At about this time Bradshaw began
70 drink heavily. He was never really
drunk in the daytime. but managed to
keep "on edge" as Jorkins expressed it,
until nightfall, when his potations be-
gau in esfnest. He never failed. how
ever, no matter what his condition, to
make hie appearance toward IL o'clock,
prepared to escort his patient and hard
working divinity home. The miracle by
which he retained his hold on the paper
resnsineu unsoived As for Miss Croisac,
she never appeared to notice anything
unusual in her escorts conduct. Her
evident admiration for the giant was
pitlsul- and. Oh. LORD! how we hated
him for il. One night while waiting
for her he fell fast asleep. with his long
limbs stretched out and his great head
thrown buck. and snored like thunder.
storm. When she wac quite ready to 60
she touched him on the shoulder. saying