The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-12-22
Kelly,
By GRACE THOMSON
Copyright, 1905 BY Q. Il. Sutcliffe
By GRACE THOMSON


when the gray haired old cashier had
asked what his first name was he had
explained that Kelly was enough.
IF tell YOU the rest. you'll be calm
me some kid name, an I'm a man
now he announced. I'm goin' t. earn
my own Twin" The cashier whimsi-
eally entered him upon the payroll as
Mr.. Kelly" and so il had stood.
Kelly had graduated to the dignity of
long trousers and considered himself n
veteran i'll the service of Edge & Lut-
ton when Kathleen came, dainty. sen
sitye little woman, fresh from business
school and vet very much IMMERSED in
the ways of business.
she won Kelly's heart by calling him
Mr. Kelly" and thereafter any of the
boys who dared play trick on the new
typewriter invariably turned up at the
Office The next day with Il bruised lip or
q blackened optic. Few Of them played
more than one trick, for when he was
but six Kelly could thrash any eight
ye1r-old youngster on the block.
Kathleen. all unmindful Of his cham
pi0nship. merely noticed that the bows
were better behaved, and told her
mother that life in a business Office
was not as hard rs she had supposed it
would be- It's 50 very different from
what we thought should have to 90
through with" she explained. and the
little Kelly boy is just dear"
Later on. when Luton began to take
notice of the pretty typewriter Kath-
leen changed her mind, but she did not
tell her mother of the invitations to
drives and the theater. 1t was hard
enough that Mrs. Lansing should be
compelled to do without the luXuries to
which she had been accustomed during
her husbands life without having to
know that the money that procured
their bare livelihood was earned at the
cost of keeping silent under covert in
suit
Luton was careful not to make his
overtures too patent, and only Kelly
saw the little things which made Kath-
lecn's work so hard. She put aside his
invitations with Il quiet dignity that
admitted of no argument, and Luton.
firing at last of a campaign of courte-
sy, began to find fault.
1t was he who dictated most of the
correspondence, and there were letters
to be copied over because of some triv-
ial mistake. Night after night Kath-
f leen had to remain copying letters, with
4 Onhv Kelly for company. And when at
last she sought the street she never
knew that only Kelly's presence saved
her from further attention from Lut-
ton waiting in the cafe across the way.
She thought it merely one of Kelly's
little courtesies, never suspecting that
Kelly, idling at the window, had seen
Luton crossing the street and had di-
vined his intentions.
But while Kelly's presence saved her
from trouble in one way it increased
her burden in another, for Luton,
smarting under his rebuff, grew more
yindictiye. The firm was in a pool in
Y. and NJ. G., and the operations were
conducted from the office. Somehow in
spite of caution some facts leaked out
prematurely, and the whole operation
resulted in crash from which the firm
barely escaped with a whole credit.
The whole office was uneasy. That
there was a suspicion that some Of the
clerks were believed to be guilty of
ueachery was apparent, but John Edge
would not have any one discharged I'M
til his guilt was proven.
We must be careful for awhile" he
had said to Luton, when the latter
Wged wholesale dismissals, but if we
Jet every one out we could never again
Command the confidence of our en-
poyees."
Luton let the matter drop, but when
It was decided to make raid on Mem
phiS preferred and the news reached
The exchange almost before the confer
@ce was broken up, even the senior
nrtner was forced to admit that some
thing must be done.
Luton very promptly discovered that
Kathleen had access to all correspond
Nce Of the firm and that it must have
been she who in some manner had
gained the knowledge that had resulted
II gain of thousands to some one on
the outside.
Even then Edge did not want to work
On circumstantial evidence.
Take it easy, George he urged.
Watch her carefully, but do not dis
Miss her" And Luton had smiled I'M
Ger his heavy mustache. He had an
dea that lie could kill two birds with
Single stone.
That red headed kid seems pretty
mick with the typewriter" he said. Il
shouldn't be surprised if they worked
together. You remember he brought a
@legram in just as that Memphis deal
was put through"
"keliyY said Edge. "Why, he's a
part Of the Office"
All the same, l could show YOU
Edge waved a protesting hand. He
gould not believe in the guilt of any
0ne in the office.
Very Well" he said YEARLY, 81
rave the matter to you"
mat afternoon Kathleen waited aft
closing time to finish off her book.
AeAy' as usual, constituted himself her
ESCORT but he could not resist the temp
luon to steal across the street to get
ae baseball scores.
Luton was there when he came
'ack' Kelly heard him before he open
me door and stood for moment in