The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1902-02-25
COPYRIGHT. 1901, By
EVAN MACPHERSON

bond OF union between COStigan and
Muller-they had long since talked
over together the great question of
woman's proper place in the order of
things and had cordially agreed that
It was nowhere. Naturally, Muller
felt aggrieved when he caught Costi-
gan twice strolling in shady places
with blooming, brown haired young
member of the reprobated sex, whose
eyes had a dangerous way of smiling
at one without losing a certain sug-
gestion of sadness.
Muller waited minute to ruminate
on the possible hidden meanings of his
friends last saying. Then he veered
around and with more asperity of tone
and manner said: eff l don't know
what I'm talking about, why in thun-
der don't you put me right? Is she
typewriter
81 regret to notice in you of late,
Muller, an unpleasant use of vulgar
slang No, you did not get it from me-
l avoid all-all such marks of-of
toughness"
'That is, you have been trying to for
the last three weeks-since you got
stuck on this typewriter"
Typewriter is not description of
any class Of woman. 1t is the name
of machine. The lady you refer to
is typester. met her-found her in
large insurance Office down town"
"And after all you have said about
women and marrying and all that sort
of thing you went and fell in love with
her, and Oh, Costiganr'
Il repeat, Muller, that you don't
know what you are talking about.
Fate brought us together"
"Wheww Muller whistled aloud in
CONSERVATION at these last words, as
If to say, lis it as bad as thatY And
then, picking up the evening paper he
had brought into Costigan's room, he
retreated to his own.
But man is at best a plaything of
fate. Muller, the morning after this
conversation, was troubled and dis
trait. His fellow clerk at the Office
remarked that he looked "dopy." The
senior Office boy and factotum, who
had his own way of interpreting signs,
grinned and whispered that Mr.. Muller
must have fallen in love, and he even
succeeded in spreading that view Of
the situation. And when Muller went
out to get bite" he picked things up
from the lunch counter in an indis-
criminate way that made the attend
ants stare at him. at last he turned
4 ha
ran into the person who happened to
be standing next behind him; and, 10,
it was womanl
I'll beg your pardon" he began, in
expresslbly humiliated by the necessity
of apologizlng to one of that sex. He
took refuge in a stopping attitude, col
lecting sandwiches from off the tiled
floor.
The inopportune female was down
there just as fast as he was, only she
was laughing. Don't mention it,
accidents can't always be-
more laughing-'I believe you've taken
my sandwich by mistake Mine was
bee-bee"- The rest was lost in q
hopeless outburst
With about fifteen people waiting to
get at that particular part of the coun-
ter which they were obstructing. and
several dozens more watching and
thoroughly enjoying the proceedings,
Muller felt that he could not bear to
remain on that tiled spot crawling
about in search of demoralized sand
wiches. He got up and faced the
enemy. He recognized her. She was
''the woman"-she who had entrapped
Costigan-C ostigan's "typester"
Really, I'm extremely sorry for hav-
ing got in your way, Mr. Muller"
She had his name pat That renegade
Costigan must have told her all about
him. 1t was a splendid opportunity
for Muller to display the courage Of
his convictions. The convictions were
there, but the courage was not to be
found. He could only stammer:
"Oh, not at all. All my fault You
must let me get you some more beef
was it beef sandwiches you said r.
Then he said within his heart that he
was a liar and a hypocrite and that
his moral degradation had begun as
soon as he had run into this woman.
For her part, she actually seemed to
enjoy the adventure. which struck
Muller as downright brazen. you
see, happen to be in laughing mood
i today" she had the impudence to say,
and she went on to ask him a dozen
questions about his acquaintance with
Costigan-how long it had lasted. and
whether they had ever met before Mr..
Costigan came to New York.
NO" he said; 1--WE only met by
chance about three years ago. We
thought we had ideas In common
There was a strong emphasis on the
word thought" which Muller meant
to be very impressive.
He made a poor pretense Of eating,
but the same cowardly regard for con-
ventionalitles which had forced him to
apologize for upsetting her sandwiches
drove him on to offer to walk with her
in the direction of her Office. And that
was how it came to pass that the head
office boy saw them and made I'M
usual haste to get back to the Office
to tell that he had seen her yep.
She's peach, tell you. They come
all the way from Tabster's together"
Nor was the head office boy the only
person who saw Muller in that short
transit. When he entered the office,
his desk mate was there to receive
him.
Muller, l want to beg your pardon
for saying you were dopy this morn
ing. see it was something more re-
spectacle, by long shot"
Il don't know what you mean," said
Muller, in tone that seemed to bode
war.
But hostilities were prevented by
the arrival of a caller for Mr.. Muller.
Muller went out from the inner Office
In mood to make a most unfavor-
able impression on any chance visitor.
| 1t was Costigan
"Oh, | saw you" said Costigan.
'sNow what have you got to say?"
You saw us, did you? Well, what
/ have to say is that this young per-
son got up SO close behind me that l
couldn't move without splitting pint
OF coffee over her"
yes; but it was all your fault, you
know, Muller. You said SO yourself.
| Never mind. old man. You're forgiven.