Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-10-23

KEY or pen, which I should be loath tc
think unobtainable. but which /, OF
late, have had some difficulty in secur'
ing. What we need there is absolute Sc
crecy. There must be no suspicion, even
of any leakage from the wires, because
messages come there that make and un'
make fortunes. Of course, many of the
messages are in cipher. but neverthe,
! less, cipher or not. the utmost caution
must be observed so that none, save
those to whom the messages are sent,
shall get the slightest inkling Of their
contents. l have changed operators
there three times in as many months,
and while against the present man
have no direct proof-if I had would
discharge him-there have been COM
plants and vague rumors Of leakage
which are. to say the least. most annoy
ing have made up my mind. in any
case. to remove that young man to the
interior of the state. and the only rea'
son he has not been removed before now
is that can't for the life of me tel
with whom to replace him. Until you
came in it never occurred to me to give
the situation to woman. 1t doesn't
quite jump with our preconceived no.
tions Of things that woman, Of al
persons, should be the one to keep &C.
cret. but most Of our preconceived no,
tions are wrong, and if you are willing
to try the experiment am. OF course,
you would be dealing entirely with men,
but l am sure you would meet with
nothing but the utmost courtesy from
ALL
"Oh, am sure Of that. said Miss
McC Clintoch earnestly. IF you give me
the opportunity. l don't think you will
have reason to regret it.
Every we'll Then we shall look on it
as settled Call here tomorrow morning
at 10 o'clock. and I will myself escort
you to the board of trade. I shall leave
one of my assistants with you in the
Office for q week. and by that time you
will probably be familiar with your new
duties. Anything you do not under
stand he will be at hand to explain.
Promptly at the appointed hour Eli
nor waited upon the manager at his Of
fee, and together they walked to the
tall building in which was housed the
board of trade. the only legalized gam
bling place in the city. where methods
differed somewhat from those ut Monte
Carlo, these differences being entirely
in favor of the Mediterranean resort,
for there the unscrupulous gambler OBJ
tains no advantage over his compare
lively innocent competitor, and lies have
no special market value Every city in
the land holds up its hands in horror at
the mention of Monte Carlo, but points
with Just pride to its Stock Exchange
building. Thus do we honestly acquire
the reputation of being a humorous
people
MI. Sandys was silent during the
greater part of the walk, and Elinor's 8
mind was busy picturing the new life
about to open before her, 80 greatly dis
similar to the old. The crisp freshness
of the air and the bracing influence Of
her long walk to the managers Office
had exhilarated the girl, who expert
enced without knowing it the glorious
prerogative of youth. Added to this
was the delicious sense of being about
to earn honestly what money she need
ed-blessed independence, the greatest
boon that can be bestowed upon any
living creature.
Sandys had pretended the day before
that their conference had been based
entirely on business principles, but no
question of salary arose between them,
which would have been one of the first
points to be discussed with any one else
by the manager after the question Of
skill was settled. The girl had felt no
anxiety on this score, being content to
leave the amount to her fathers old
friend, and her confidence was not mis-
placed. THAT is the board of trade
building" said her companion. speak
ing for the first time since they set out
together.
eyes" she replied: II walked
around to see it after my talk with you.
but 1 did not 60 in.
"Well. we will go in now. / hope
you have weighed well what l said to
you yesterday. There is no doubt in
my mind that after you learn the ways
of the Office you will prove quite COM
petent to fill the situation. But you
must never forget that the great quail
fcation, equal in importance to your
speed at the key, is secrecy-absolute
secrecy. Not even in the sanctity Of
your own home, to your own mother,
must you breathe hint Of anything
that comes over the wires. You under
stand that thoroughly. trust.
"Oh, yes, Mr.. Sandysl You need
never have the least fear about that /
feel as if I had Joined some awful So
ciety and taken a most terrible oath
with perfectly dreadful penalties. !
thought about 1t last night until I fell
asleep, and then l dreamed the most
frightful things-that masked men
with redhot pinchers were trying to
make me tell what your occupation
was and what you had said to me; but,
although 1 screamed and awoke myself,
all in tremble. never told.
The manager smiled grimly and said
seriously:
"That is the right spirit, and here
we are at the door of the inquisition.
At the end of large hall. wide and
lofty double doors standing open gave a
view of the interior of an immense
room, in which several men were walk
ing about with their hands in their