The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1905-11-18
THE JOSS.'
SOMETHING WHICH COULD NOT
HAPPEN.

q Ireepie, the senior member OF In
firm OF Treepie, Virgins a. Treepit
u carpets, rugs and draperies was know
y 10 his employees as the joss. Tomm
- Mareham, one OF the statesmen In tn
, lace curtain department called hin
= that first
Do you mean the boss'2' asket
Mss Catesby his colaborer and Thu
y object Of his affections.
+. Il mean what | say every time an
swered Tommy Some Of these fine
: days I'll take you down into China
. town and show you They've got a
craven image up there that's dead
ringer for the old man except for the
ssyle Of his whiskers--the bay window
and all. He sits ON gilded throne
and the Cinnamon, burn incense before
hIm and rub their noses on the mat
/, ard he takes it all in as If he was en-
titIed 10 il ana expected IT, Being q
Ettle wooden god with lots OF gliding
on him he naturally would expect IT,.
But he looked SO self-satisfied and dig
uiied | wanted 10 knock him off his
perch"
Treepie was dDgnified, also self-satis-
! fled and he had an imposing presence,
! He was six feet tall. with a severe
/ beah of nose, a thin-lipped closely
| compressed mouth that never smiled.
deep bass voice, d portly figure and
/ g stride that would have been a strut
III d person less magnificent People
Hht went into his Office cheerful and
confident came out with a chastened
expression, He awed everybody who
came in contact with him,
He came down TO the store at nine
Q clock In the morning with unyarying
punctuality, always attired in a frock
coat Of irreproachable cut and silk
hat OF surprising glossiness. He took
OF his hat when he got inside his ma
hegany and pilte-glass shrine. but no
one, not even Simpkins. his chief
bonze, had ever seen him with his
coat u1buttoned. At ten O'Clock he
gave audience to Simpkins and re-
ceived his report At II he moved ma
icstically into the counting house and /
Inspected the books, thereafter retir- (
ing to the shrine At one O'Clock lie i
vent Quit was understood to lunch, /
Dat where he went no one knew or (
presumed to inquire, 1t took quite a /
lively imagination to conceive of his
lunching.
in course of time he returned and il
vas In the AFTERNOON that he made his
about the store.
At five O'Clock he would enter his
carriage, which would be waiting at
the door, and the store would breathe
a sigh of relief
All this must be taken into consider
alton before il is possible TO arrive at
ans conclusion. II Is fact that Tom
lily Wareham entered the counting
house. where Grimpel was spreading
out his ledgers, in state of manifest
excitement Il was the morning after
a public holiday, be it said Miss
Calesby followed close after Tommy
AID her face indicated that something
unusual had happened, SO that Grim
lei and Miss Baker the stenographer,
came to a simultaneous conclusion
Why, you haven't" began Miss
Baker.
You don't mean to say" said
No. | don't. We haven't Nothing
Of the sort" replied Wareham. But,
say! What do you think? Miss Gates
ny and | were out to Wenlock grove
We rode out on our wheels.
You know the boss has summer home
nut there, don't you?"
The joss. corrected Grimpel.
Tommy shook his head. Il take all
hat back" he said. we knew he
lived there. OF course but we didn't
'now where it was until we happened
o pass house"
"A hedge" said Miss Catesby.
That's so You couldn't see the
ouse for the hedge It was one of
Gose box hedges. about six feet high |
md trimmed as smooth as wall All
If a sudden we heard a voice aud our
wheels SHE'D clear to the other side of
ae road 1t was his nibs' dulcet
ones.
Then We heard a kids voice say:
GET down on your hands and knees.
want to ride You
Then the ladys curiosity got he
,etter Of her and-well. both Of our
-ariosities got the better of us. Any
gay, we leaned our wheels against a {
Iee and snook up 10 the hedge and {
found a place We could peek through. s
Ifimmy. as I hope for a raise. himself {
was down on his hands and knees and
a kid was astride his back and hold
ing on TO his whiskers and kicking his
ribs TO make him move faster And
,h, Grimmy, that gait
He was in his shlrtsleeves and his
trousers were the raggedes,. thread
.arest old things, and De had on a
blue flannel shirt said Miss Catoshy.
"G'way," said Grimpel, incrcdu-
ously
IT'S so so help me. and that"
'Sh-h-h" Kissed GrimpeL Climb ,
If that stool Here he u.s. lie opened @
be cash book as be spoke ami Miss
Bakers fingers pounced on the KEYS of
her typewriter