Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1899-06-07
A TELEPHONE GIRL.

This is the story about Jones' You
have all heard of Jones, even If you have
never met him.
Now that Is exactly the trouble with
Jones and his telephone girl The fact is
that he was in love with her, as he himself
confessed, desperately in love- but though
he had dreamed of her for months only
her small voice, only the musical ring of
her call for number, please, lived in his
memory. Her visual image had never
found place except in his imagination
All the clerks in the big wholesale house
knew that Jones was in love with the tele-
phone girl, whereat they marveled not
little, for Jones had the reputation of be-
ing very bashful young man. Very
rarely did he venture to address any of the
pretty girls that worked in the same store
with him, and as for society-well, the
very thought of it made him blush to the
tips of his ears 1t was whispered that
Jones had been sweet on more than one OF
the young ladies of the establishments, es.
pecially the gay young cashier, who always
persisted in smiling at him when he pass
ed, although she must have seen how
greatly it embarrassed him. Jones was
| by no means a woman hater. Blush
though he must he felt sort of inward
tickling of delight whenever some one
leased him about alleged multiform flirta-
lions
"Who was that pretty girl l saw you
with last EVENING" one of the clerks
asked him one day with an arch smile.
The pretty girl was his sister for he
had never ventured to ask any other girl
4. L., Il,.f
Jones did not care to explain these details,
and so he winked mysteriously, leaving
his fellow clerks to guess the rest Many
time Jones had resolved to ask this or
that girl-pretty girl, of course-to go to
the theater with him, but every time his
nerve failed him just as he prepared to
speak to her.
| That was the situation of affairs on the
day when the manager asked Jones to call
| up the weather bureau. 1t happened to be
dreary, dismal day. Jones went to the
telephone and rang.
"Hellop came a sweet, as Jones
| thought, the sweetest kind of voice.
Numbers"
| Jones asked for the weather bureau.
"Oh, do tell them to make the sun come
out" the pretty, sweet voice called back.
Jones felt his heart futter. "Oh, oh, yes,
yes" he stainmered and hastily glanced
| about the Office to see whether anybody
was noticing him. Apparently all were
| intent on their work "Oh, yes, dear"
he added, quite below his breath, for it
scared him nightly.
Perhaps the telephone girl had not
heard him, perhaps she had felt insulted;
at any rate Jones heart 1uttered still
more violently as he realized the rashness
of his act He FASTENED to conclude his
| business with the weather bureau and
went back to his regular work. few
minutes later the sky cleared up, and the
sun actually did come out. Jones thought
that the telephone girl who spoke so sweet
| ly to him must certainly have taken some
interest in his personality, and so, sum-
moning up all his courage, he approached
the phone once more. He closed the door
to the telephone room and with trembling
| hands took the receiver
Hello! Number?'
| Jones heart began to beat at the rate of
$50 minute. For moment he hesitated
Didn't make the sun come out!" he
stammered
A ripping laugh sweeter than ever was
! the reply. Jones was in ecstasy. The tele-
phone girl consented to enter upon a short
conversation, and then all was silence.
| For some minutes Jones kept the receiver
at his ear, but he heard no more.
| The next day he went to the telephone
room again and closed the door behind
| him
"Hello, dear! Are you the one who
| made the sun come out?' Alas! 1t was
| another one. Several days passed. and each
| time Jones went into the telephone room
~, lob nd ha nf h
err clerks began to get suspicious. They
| leased Jones. His heart fiuttered, and he
| blushed, but at last he had made his rep
! utation as ladies' man.
1t took days-perhaps it took week.
before Jones found the same girl again.
"What is your name? Won't you tell me
your manner" he asked.
mo, we go by numbers, the telephone
girl replied "I'm No 49,"
AS matter of fact she was not No. IL,
| but it will not do to give the right num-
Der. However, Jones continued his flirta-
| tion-a very mild filtration, it is true
with No ID He dreamed of her at night,
| and in lieu of her NAME which she never
revealed, he whispered her number, No.
| 10, to himself and constructed love poems
! that rhymed with it, 1t made his heart
| fiutter, but Jones had established his repu-
tation as "a ladies' man. He tried to
make "a date with No. 10, but she per-
sistently refused.
One day the elderly bookkeeper, man
of so, happened to mention that his sister
worked in the telephone exchange. And
then again on later day he said that his
sister was coming up to the Office to see
| him.
81 must meet her." Jones thought. II
must meet her, and she'll tell me the
name of No. 10.
In the afternoon the bookkeeper's sister
appeared She might have been little
| younger than her brother, or she might
have been his twin sister. Her face looked
kindly, but careworn. Her nose was
large and i'll shapen, her hair red and
| scraggy, and her face marked with the
wrinkles of age. On some pretense Jones
moved up to the bookkeeper, so that the
latter was forced to introduce her
"Glad to meet you, glad to meet you,
Jones stammered. "By the way, do you
happen to know the young lady who
wears No. 10 down at the telephone ex-
changer" he added abruptly.
"Oh, yes, the bookkeepers sister re-
piled in her sweetest voice; that's my
selfp'