Evening star., 1897-06-05

"Oh. dear!'' exclaimed the young woman.
| with shade of annoyance in her voice. as
| If she feared the pausing would be at
| tributed to her lack of clearness. The
| manager said nothing. but indulged in a
| him, for, ruling many. he had to keep a
stern face to the world. and enjoy what
| nirth came his way without outward SEM
! blance of 1t. After several breaks. the
manager said:
THAT is quite enough. thank you," and a
| few minutes later a young man entered
| the room with the sheets in his hand, which
! he gave to the manager. opening his eyes
somewhat. when he saw seated at the table
| a slim young girl, bewilderingly pretty
/ When the young man had left them once
more alone in the room the manager said:
Il must admit I am aStonished at your
expertnesS. 1t may not be strictly business
like to acknowledge SO much to one whom
l am about to make the hardest bargain
can with. but perhaps you will not take
advantage of the confession. You are a
very good telegraphist indeed Miss Elinor
l must express my admiral ton of the way
in which you have faced the realities Of
life. We like to think our girls so resource
fui that they can fill with credit to them
selves any position which fate assigns to
/ item, whether it is in the office of a mer-
| chant or the parlors of the White House
| You have been suddenly confronted with a
! very difficult problem. Miss Elinor. and you
i 1S
| commands my deepest respect"
| oh. Mr.. Sandysr exclaimed the girl,
| blushinS deeply and dawing a long,
quivering breath. but quite evidently glow
| ing with qualification at the praise of a
/ man whom she knew to be sparing in his
| commentator.
Now, l am not sure" he continued.
but your coming here today has settIej
In the right way matter that has been
troubling me for some weeks past There
Is Geographic situation in this city which
mas been the cause of more worry to me
| than any of the other hundreds under INV
control; it is the Office at the board OF
| trade" u
| AT the board Of trader echoed Miss Eli
| nor. looking at him in some alarm
les les ne answered. That situation de-
J mands qualities. aside from those of kew
| OF pen. which should be 10th to think nm
| obtslnabie, but which l. of late have had
| scme difficulty in securing What we need
mere Is absolute secrecy. There must be
no suspicion. even, of any leakage from the
| wires, because messages come there ,ha :
| make and unmake fortunes OF course
! many OF the messages are in cypher hpt
aeueia,eiess ae',.ia cypher or not. the utmost
caution must be observed, SO that hone
| save those to whom the messages are sent
shall get the slightest inkling of their con,
!ehts. l have changed operators there
aaaies ande unss mes IN as many months. and while
asdhst tne present man l have no direct
pIooi-f l had would discharge him
M .nsle hs'e peen complaints and vague ru-
| I ,liors OF leakage. which are, to saw the
least, most annoying. / have made IN nv
| mind. In any case, to remove thai vp,,n
man 10 the interior of the state. ana the
olily Sy reason ne has not been removed be-
tsue teI nov, now Is that can't for the life of me
ten with whom to replace MIN I7n.n 80
came In 1t never occurred to me to ,iva ~
sltuation 10 a woman. 1t doesn't f,nits
Jump with our preconceiyed notions os
ba - taat d woman, of all persons, Should
pe the one to keep a secret. but most -
our preconceived notions are wrong ana -
you are willing to try the experiment 7
an an, VI course, you would be dealing en-.
| n,ea; n";.t men, put am sure you would
| from ALL" o'iiiosl courtesy
c,,o IN. I am sure Of that" said Miss Nc
a.ocm, onnnrs, earnestly: IF you give me the
pppor.unity aasnn m don't think you will have
very well: then We shall look on If az
settled Call here tomorrow mornine at
~ o'clock. and 1 will myself escort von
~ 'ne ooaro Oh trade. shall leave one of
my assistants with you in the Office for % .
week and by that time You will probab,v
pe familiar with your new duties. Any
,hing you do not understand he will be at
hand to explain 80
| promptly at the appointed hour EIinor
| waited upon the manager at his office, and
| together they walked to the tall bui,ding
IN IN which was housed the board of trade
ci1,, cne onry .esalized gambling place in the
| from those at Monte Carlo. these difYer-
| ences being entirely in favor of the Nedi.
| terrancan resort, for there the unscrunI,-
lous gambler obtains no advantage over
his comparatively innocent competitor and
lies have no special market value. Every
| city in the land holds I'D its hands IN
horror at the mention of Monte Carlo but
| points with just pride TO its stock ex-
| change building, Thus do we honestly
| acquire the reputation of being a humor.
Gus people.
| Mr.. Sandys was quiet during the greater
part OF the walk. and Elinor's mind was
busy picturing the new life about to omen
before her, so greatly dissimIar to the
old. The crisp freshness of the air and
| the bracing influence of her long walk IN
| the managers Office had exhilarated the
girl. VINO experienced without knowing If
| the glorious prerogative Of youth Added
/, to this was the delicious sense of being
! about to earn honestly what money she
needed; blessed Independence! the grea test
boon that can be bestowed upon any living
creature.
| Sandys had pretended the day before
| that their conference had been based en-
| tirely on business principles, but no oues-
| ton OF salary arose between them which
| would have been one of the first points ia
| be discussed with any one else by the
| manager, after the question of skin wal
| settled. The girl had felt no anxiety On
this score. being content to leave the
| amount to her fathers old friend, and hes
| commences was not misplaced. That n
the board OF trade building" said her COM
panion. speaking for the sirst time Since
| they set out together.
! Yea" she rs2lied. II walked around b