The Portland daily press., 1901-02-16
g q e Il q It - = :: . :: :: = =

- - - - ~ 80 80
Perrin was a model of precision and
punctuality. He never made mistake
and was never fraction of q second
behind time. Exactly at he entered
the office and passed into his own
room, drawing off his gloves as he
walked. At two minutes past Q he was
at his desk reading the letters which
Miss Ripley had previously opened for
him.
He was a man without impulses.
What he had done yesterday he did to-
day and would do tomorrow And he
did il naturally. not prlggishly. The
hemispheres of his brain were perfectly
balanced. When he entered upon a
course of conduct, 1t was after refiec-
tion. and to have detected therefrom
would have been impossible because 1t
would involve acting against reason,
which Perrin never did.
For all his infiexibility he was well
liked by his subordnates. Every one
looked up when he came In of a morn
ing, and he spoke cordially to them all.
There was one exception. To Miss
Ripley he simply bowed stiffiy, and she
merely looked ur and dropped her eyes
They never exchanged n word not
necessary to the transaction of busi-
ness. The feud between them was of
long standing, but no one knew def
nitely the cause of it. Miss Ripley kept
her own counsel, and the office finally
came to regard their mutual dislike as
a familiar fact, like the cross eyed
bookkeeper and the steam register that
always made a noise.
At 0 precisely on the l4th of Febrf-
ary Perrin made his appearance and
said: Good morning. Miss Brown;
good morning. Barker; good morning,
boys" and bowed to Miss Ripley, who
made her usual slight response. After
the door closed Barker, who was stand
Ing by her desk. leaned down and whis-
pered loudly: Il say, Miss Ripley, this
Is Valentines day. You ought to make
1t up with the old man. Why don't
you send him a yalentinef
The young womans lip curled. Per
haps have already done So" she an
swered coolly. A laugh went around
the room, but she did not join 1t. She
turned TO her work, her fingers strik
Ing the keys almost vieiously.
Meanwhile the manager was sitting
at his desk frowning over a letter
which he had just read for the fourth
time. 1t was signed Emily Ripley and
begged that Mr.. Perrin would accept
her resignation as his stenographer, the
same to take effect on the 1st of March.
For some reason this brief and bust
nesslike communication put Perrin in
most unaccountable i'll humor. Ger
tainly the girl could resign il she want
ed to- Presumably she was about to
marry somebody. She had told "him,"
no doubt, what brute her employer
was, and he had ordered her to resign
as soon as possible. Lord, how she did
hate him! And for nothing at ALA
ridiculous misunderstanding. And when
he went to the trouble to explain how
much good did 1t do? She didn't be-
lieve word of 1t. Sometimes he wish
ed he had spoken directly to her about
1t and told her point blank that she
might either leave or let the matter
drop. He would accept her resignation
quickly enough, and he would take the
opportunity TO let her know that She
He began at once;
"My Dear Miss Ripley-In accepting
your eslgnation-for, of course, can
not do otherwise than accept it
l would like to express my regret that
your feeling toward me has been so un-
friendly during the two years of our
association. | can hardly understand
how you, with your unusual intelli-
gence and the kindness of heart you
manifest toward others, could have re-
fused the explanation / sent through
Mr. Barker. At first ] was inclined to
ask you If 1t had not been made quite
clear that | meant nothing personal in
what had said, but had no reason to
doubt that Mr.. Barker had spoken as
j requested him to, and I thought it
best 10 let the affair go by.
you must remember how badly
things went in the office before came
in The machines were old and out of
repair, and when | said that the letters
had been disgrace to the firm for the
past year l alluded only TO the ma
chimes and not TO any of the operators,
least of all TO you. take this occasion
TO say that your work has always been
most satisfactory. You have been
punctuaI, businesslike, industrious and
amiable--that is, to every one except
myself, You have been civil even to
me, but your evident dislike has been
daily source of regret to me. or
course there is no reason why you
should be anything more than civil TO
man who has no claim on you out
side of business hours and who never
did anything for your except to Q. X.
your pay slip every week, but the fact
is you have a most generous habit Of
smiling spontaneously at every one else
who speaks to you. Your head turns
with a uuiek LITTLE motion like a bird