Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1904-11-17
THE
-CGLEyBy.
BRIDE
By KEITH GORDON
COPYRIGHT. 1904, BY 7. c. Mcclure


handsome and unmarried and the wo-
man in the Office Of Il quiet elegance
Of face and form, subtly suggestive OF
drawing rooms, u is apparent that
complications become possible.
Oglesby himself had vague con
sciousness of the fact ut the end of
Miss Wentworth's first year there.
1t was not so much that, under the
charm Of her personality. Il Turkish
rug. not originally included in the plan
of office furnishings. had found its way
into her room-that was Il small mat
ter! But that he perceived a certain
incongruity in the fact that her slen-
der. well shod feet rested upon Il pol
ishcd floor. while he and Stanton
walked on rugs. YVES more significant.
When incongruities of this sort attract
business mans attention he should
beware
Miss Wentworth. to BE sure, had an
atmosphere all her own, which seemed
to demand Il proper setting for her.
To this silent demand of her individ-
uality Oglesby made a good many con-
cessons from time to time, almost
without knowing that he did so. lie
had Il whimsical theory that she was
like fine china and should be treated
with the greatest delcacy.
She herself never seemed to suspect
n Nx-a Iti t,sp n
attention that was paid to her COM
fort. If rug were put down in her
room, well, surely it was no more than
proper that there should be Il rug
there If Mr.. Oglcsby showed real
anxiety to know whether the chair that
she occupied was as comfortable a
one as could be procured, Miss Went
worth supposed that it was but the
usual kindness displayed by employ
ers for their employees.
1t was not until the little room occu-
pied by her contained every Office con-
venience that Oglesby was brought to
a consciousness of the fact that there
thoughtfulness.
I'm. Seems to me, old man, that
you're daft on the subject of our fair
assistant" observed his partner when
for the third time in as many months
he had suggested some improvement 70
be made in the stenographer's equip
ment
Oglesby answered him somewhat tart
ly and in a manner meant 10 convey
that an Oglesby could under no cir
cumstances whatever become interest
ed In a woman not Of his own class.
Still the fact that Stanton had noticed
anything unusual In his behavior irri-
tated him. He remembered, with sharp
discomfort, Il number Of times when
he had worked hard-harder by far
than he ever had with any woman OF
his own world-to win Il smile from
her. He even found relief in the
thought that with a tact rare in girl
unframed to social life she had added
zest to his efforts by her calm, well
bred. but by no means encouraging
manner.
IAN Oglesby and daft on the subject
Of stenographer" he repeated to HIM
self with scorn as Stanton's remark
ranked III his mind. II guess not!'
1t was fortunate that he should have
encountered Miss Wentworth on the
street one day while this resentment
was still warm in his mind. At the of
fee, in spite of his resolutions, his man
ner was unchanged. Over and over
in hn
young woman who looked ut him very
much as If he were n mere detail of the
office furniture was simply his stenog-
rapher.
But when he met her on the street
| that day a sudden remembrance Of
| Stantons speech embarrassed him.
| After all, the Oglesby pride whispered,
"Stanton was right" With this thought
| In his mind he checked the smile of
| greeting that rose to his lips and
| bowed with elaborate and somewhat
patronizing gravity.
| Intends to be just as courteous to
| me as II did not write his letters for
so much per month" was the thought
| that flashed wickedly through Miss
| Wentworth's mind. Her acknowledge
ment of his greeting was reduced to a
| flicker of the eyelids that came peril
ously near to being imperceptible.
| The effect was by no means lost up
on Mr. Oglesby and produced in him n
| queer mixture of triumph and indigna-
| ton.
| "Jove." ran his thoughts apprecia-
] lively. "she has the air of grande
!, dame
Then a quick transition took place in
| his view of the matter, and he expert
| enced a thrill of righteous Indignation
| at her treatment. Had he not bowed
TO her precisely as he would have done
In. .iss I'm. 3. az q q. .4eee,{ -.i2'iss,
| tmpalpable difference OF expression,
/ witch person m nc, pJsitFtia 'rp'dicl
| scarcely be expected to detect?
Just what was going to happen In
| the future can never be definitely
| known, for at that moment the vision
of tall, fair girl, whose eyes seemed
to look into his with quiet mockery,
terminated his train of thought. He
| felt almost as guilty as If the vision