The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-07-21

~ buSlneSSl1ke in q mouSy manner.
N. Batter all, that's about her usual act,
SO probably there's nothing in it after all.
wish sprained ankle was all there was the
matter with me- Yours truly,
B. BENTLEY.
The next voiced surprising PROPOSE
ton:
am thinking dt ready of doing the ancient
honorablean saying something to old Martin.
l don't know anything moro about the little
cloclworks that run that tame lamb of his
than did at first. You might as we'll try to
agitate Waterbury. But the office seems to
be getting OH to me- cur-r-rses ON EN-, and I'm
afraid Martin may get fidgety. bet it's that
gabby old Irish woman of yours that's been
giving me away. I'd thrash him for the cash
he's got in his clothes just on the chance If any
one would guarantee that 1t would pay for q
drink. Then if blow off to him (Martin). ten
to one he'll develop colossal genius for max
Ing an ass Of himself 1s different ways.
This was the last I heard directly
from Bentley for several weeks. In the
meantime occasionally had news of
him from other people. An Office boy
came up for copy one day, and after he
had gotten it continued to hang around
in an engaging manner. He was nice
boyish boy and spent his spare time
writing to some one whom he addressed
as "Miss Tooty Fareman, Dear Miss"
He was unnaturally careless of these
letters Gas of all other matters personal
and professionally, and once, before re-
alizing what it was, / read the opening
sentence of one. 1t ran, 1.-The Hours /
spend away from Thee, Tooty, are no
good whatever, but know you don
feel truely as do. /" So you see he was
prepared by experience to take an in
terest in the game of love wherever he
saw it.
"Well, Jimmy, how are things going
at the Office 2" 1 asked, by way of being
friendly, while he stood irresolutely by
the door.
''They say-they say Mr.. Bentley's
in love with that Martin girl, said
Jimmy. his tone even more than his
phrasing showing that his callow con-
tempt for feminine kind still included
all of the sex but Miss Fareman or her
successor.
"Do you think he is?'' asked.
"When look at her don t." he as
serted ''She don t amount to nothin,
but Mr.. Bentley acts kind of queer. He
keeps lookin at her when he thinks no.
body don't see him-he don't notice
me. He stops still sometimes and stares
right before him till somethin makes
him jump. think that's bad sign,
don't you, Miss Addingtons"
At last the time came when I was
able to make little trip down town.
went to the Office, but not to the edi.
torial rooms, because they could be
reached only by means of short fight
Of steps after leaving the elevator. and
did not want to attempt the climb.
My errapd was with that great person
known here as ''the boss. -
The boss name was j. B. Higgens.
He was big Drained. big bodied,
coarse fibered, powerful old fellow, with
good deal of human nature in him.
And though all the other women and
most of the men in his employ stood in
terror of him, did not, and so did
not. like them, altogether hate him.
He was highly skeptical OF good always
and anywhere, but yet he had too much
sense not to know that distrust can
overleap the mark, can be tripped in
its own net, and it always pleased me
to see his suspicious both sustained and
held in check by his sagacity.
He met me with his gray eyes peer
ing alertly out from under his shaggy
eyebrows and over his puffy purple
cheeks, to see whether, after all. had
really been having such a bad time
with that ankle. / had come down to
fight out little question Of salary, and
Mr.. Higgins met me as both counsel
and plaintiff ON the other side. The
contest and its results are matters aside
from this history, but we are concerned
with the touch Of humanness that now
and again, against his will and his
theories. diversified his simple brutali-
ty, and to which we owe another
glimpse Of Bentley.
line boss always began an inter
view with ...c - a distinct declaration,
in manner, that l was an employee,
and only an employee, and that he ut
terly refused to take the slightest notice
of the fact that was also woman. A
helpless sense of his own small, much
degraded, much outraged, but still not
quite eradicated masculine instinct Of
chivalry toward women underlay and
mainly produced this buster and lit
tie tact could usually be counted upon
to still 1t aud even to play upon his
weakness SO far as to insure the poor
woman before him something like fair
treatment-a thing he was by no means
in the habit of according except on the
self respectful and unquestionably jus
tiiable ground of immediate self inter
est.
The queer thing was that this novel
experience Of disloyalty to his principles
nearly always pleased him for few
minutes He found it pleasant until
the predatory habits Of lifetime de-
voted to Cuisines" closed in upon him
again, perhaps bringing about reac-
tionary irritation. Today, when the
question of salary was settled, he drop
ped back in his leather chair and began
little conversation. He was always
above the familiar, cheap affectation Of
| being imDossibly busy