Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-09-25

agent, YOU tdlk as II you OWueu lu'S
building"
why not?" asked George. the imper-
turbable.
The agent stared at him and drew
back a little. What do you mean"
! he cried.
You get your authority here from
! Attorney Jethro Browning" said
| Attorney Browning acts as trustee for
| the Francis estates?
Yes" said the agent sharply. "What
of that?'
81 am the Francis estate" said
George Francis Garvin mildly. Ground
floor, all OUT
This time the agent needed the an
nouncement and stepped from the car.
His forid face was pale.
1.-THE boy stays|' asked George, with
the slightest interrogative infection.
The boy stays" replied the agent.
"Good-morning," said George, pO-
litely.
AS the discounted official passed
through the outer door a radiant vision
entered. 1t was Miss Mary Arm
strong in her new summer attire. and
Miss Mary was lovely girl and her
attire was decidedly fetching.
AS George saw her coming in he
stood a little straighter.
Fourth floor, please. she said, as
she tripped into the car. Then she
looked up and recognized the new ele-
yator man with little gasp.
But he paid no attention to her as he
latched the iron door and drew on the
hoisting rope. He was the elevator
man now. Besides, 1t was this girl who
had told him he had no object in life;
that he had NO heart, no sympathy.
True, he had tantalized her by his lam
guild Indifference, but her words were
unnecessarily hard. She had abruptly
parted with him with intentional cold
ness and had not asked him to call
again. And she was the one girl in all
the world whose good opinion he val
ued most. What would she think of
him now?
Fourth floor" he said, and he stop
ped the car with beautiful exactness.
Thirteenth, please" said Miss Mary,
with a touch of wonderment in her
voice that conveyed the impression
that he must have misunderstood her.
Sorry" said George, without look
ing round, "but it's against the rules
to run the elevator any higher than the
roof"
"The twelfth will do" said Miss
Mary, as if graciously yielding a dis
puted point. Then she sweetly added,
But fear 1 will have to report you
for lack of Willingness to oblige your
patrons"
Il must call your attention, ma'am,"
said George, ''to the fact that patrons
are requested not to converse with the
elevator boy while on duty. 1t distracts
his attention. Twelfth floor"
"Going down, please" announced
Mass Mary. Then she gently murmur-
ed, Il don't suppose there is any rule
against patron talking to herself, is
there?' He did not answer. Il wonde.
why he is running an elevators" She
softly soliloquized. Il suppose it's be
cause of bet. l wish 1t was for some
other reason, for he certainly runs ii
very well. I've no doubt he could do
many things very well If he tried. He
needs an honest friend to tell him So
She paused, but George did not look
around.
Ground floor, all out" he said, and
reached across as he pushed back the
iron door.
Miss Mary sat still. .
i,,ef a hnu rao in kl,o.
sidewalk. His face was glowing, his
breath was short.
"Oh, Mr.. Garvin.' he cried did you
have any trouble, and will lose my
jobT'
Not bit of trouble" replied George,
as he stepped from the car, land your
job Is safe?"
"Oh, thank you, Mr.. Garvin," cried
the grateful boy. 81 found father very
soon-an' just in time to save him
from tn patrol. An mother sends you
her blessin', sir.' .-.s
Thank you," said George. Your car
is waiting"
"It was awfully cheeky Of me to let
a gentleman like you take my place."
finished the boy; 81 didn't think what
l was doin' until afterwards, sir"
THAT will do, jamie" said George.
and turned from him.
And then a vision In white suddenly
confronted him in the doorway of the
car.
George" said Miss Mary Armstrong.
1t was the first time she had called him
by his first name, old friend that he
was, and she couldn't have said it more
softly if she had added dear"
He looked around at her, his face
flushing, and lifted his hat.
George" she said as she stepped to-
ward him, "come down to ask papa to
go with me to luncheon, but I'd rather
go with you. Will you take me?'
He bent forward quickly and whis-
pered something that brought the
quick color to her cheeks.
"Going up" called Master jamie, as
he clicked the iron gate.
But they did not heed him.-Cleve-
land Leader.
Meridian Ants.
Ap,opo tho ouriol1S I'M