The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1898-07-30

of the mountains. Probably he found
her Indispensable in his business af-
fairs, yet fancied he might make that
plea some day and be answered by the
Reaper that no mortal is indispensa-
bic.
She was very faithful in her work,
and 1 think the young man with the
gray hair appreciated it, for l often
saw him praise her. 1t was easy
enough to know when she received this
cOmmendation, for it pleased her ex-
tremely.
There were two clerks and a book
keeper in the employ of Stoughton &
Bland, and l judged that all Of them
were deeply conscious of the secre-
tary's charms. The youngest of them
was obviously in love with her, and he
frequently got snubbed for his atten-
lions. He was Ii tall and handsome
youth with corn-colored hair that
rolled back from his forehead in a
wave which he had the good sense not
to spoil with a comb and brush.
There was also a square-shouidered
fellow who bristled with energy. He
seemed to be employed in outside
work, and it vas only in the early
hours that he had a chance to talk
with her. She treated him with suffi-
cient cordially to cause Jealous feel
ings on my side of the canyon-for it
pleased me to fancy myself in love with
her.
Lastly, there was the old bookkeep-
er, who must have lived somewhere in
the country, for he brought her such
flowers as the florists do not sell and
laid them on her desk before size came
down. He would be alone in the office
then, and he did not know that l was
watching him from across the chasm.
l have seen him spend 20 minutes in
arranging half a doz2n wild flowers
and then dodge quietly away at the
sound of a step in the hall. In all my
days at the window l never saw him ad-
dress her till she had iTst spoken to
him.
There was a day in June when she
did not come to the office. \ tribute
OF blossoms awaited her, and l could
read anxiety in the old bookkeeper's
back where he stood by his desk on the
far side of the roo as the mirJtes
passed on beyond the usual time of
her appearance. When the gray-haired
young man came in his first glance was
directed toward the desk, of which the
lid was closed for the first time at that
hour in many months.
N nnn1i fn1- n n,ncco-rn- I-,- ,--
in with a telegram, and when the head
of the firm had read it he looked
toward the closed desk again. so /.
knew what must be in the dispatch.
The bookkeeper was watching over his
shoulder, and by and by he plucked up
courage to ask a timid question of his
employer. The answer made him look
very grave.
Whatever the news may have been
he communicated it to the light-haired
youth and the square-shouldered fell
low, il the latter edge of the luncheon
hour, before the chief had returned.
They took it very hard, and the young
er of them stood by the window after
wards, when he should have been at
work, and he looked the picture of
grief.
Yet the girl was on hand at the usual
hour neXt morning, and was the re-
cipient of cordial greetings, though she
had 10 ask the bookkeeper for his. In
the afternoon. when she stood by the
open window for n few minutes, I
thought she looked quite i'll, and worse
than that, she seemed apprehensive.
The blight of melancholy was on her.
l fancied her as one of those unfor-
Inmates who in youth are told that there
will be no maturity; that the seeds of
death are planted and must grow.
Three days later she was absent
again. Then I saw her on three sue
c~essive days. leaving out of account an
intervening Sunday. Again she failed
to appear, but only for a day, and the
remainder of the week she was In her
accustomed place.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday
passed with no glimpse of her. In the
late afternoon of that last day. a man
who could be known for a doctor half
a mile away, LIade a long call upon the
head of the firm. They conversed very
seriously for a few minutes, and then
drifted to general themes and laughed
and pulled their cigars as if nothing
were wrong. That fixed my estimate of
the gray-haired young man at a very
low point in the scale.
There was no sign of her during the
week. On Monday l saw unusual sights
in the office across the way. First the
old bookkeeper came in, and while he
had the office to himself he sat in her
chair; and | saw him shed tears. Then
the young man with the corn-colored
hair appeared. and upon my word l
was afraid to see him stand by the open
window, with such a look upon his
face, lest he should cast himself down
to the bottom of the gulf.
A little later the three clerks, the
gray-haired man, and an elderly per-
son whom 1 took to be the second mem
Der of the firm, just arrived from
abroad-for l had heard a rumor that
one of them had been in Europe nearly
a year-assembled in conference on a