Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1906-01-18
Kelly
BY GRACE THOMSON
Copyright, 1903, by Q. Ii. Sutclitfe
BY GRACE THOMSON

me some hlu name, an / III man
now" he announced. I'm goin t earn
my own Twin" The cashier whimsi-
cally entered him upon the payroll as
Mr.. Kelly" and so ii had stood
Kelly had graduated to the dignity Of
long trousers and considered himself
veteran In the service of Edge & Lut-
ton when Kathleen came, a dainty, SEN
Bitive little woman, fresh from business
school and vet very much unversed 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 a bruised lip or
O blackened optic. Few of them played
more than one trick, for when he was
but six Kelly could thrash any eight
year-old youngster on the block.
Kathleen, all unmindful Of his cham
pionShip, merely noticed that the boys
were better behaved, and told her
mother that life in a business office
was not as hard as she had supposed it
would be It's 80 very different from
what we thought l should have to go
through with" she explained, land the
little Kelly boy Is just dear"
Later on. when Luton began TO take
notice OF the pretty typewriter. Kath-
Ieen 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-
leens work so hard She put aside his
Invitations with quiet dignity that
admitted Of no argument and Luton.
tiring 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
10 be copied over because Of some triv-
ial mistake Night after night Kath-
leen had to remain copying letters, with
only 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
vindictiye The firm was in 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
treachery was apparent, but John Edge
would not have any one discharged I'M
I'll his guilt was proven.
I'VE must be careful for awhile" he
had said TO Luton, when the latter
urged wholesale diSmissals, but If we
let every one out we could never again
command the confidence of our en-
ployees"
Luton let the matter drop, but when
II was decided to make a raid on Mem
phis preferred and the news reached
the exchange almost before the confer
ence was broken up, even the senior
partner was forced TO admit that some
thing must be done
Luton very promptly discovered that
Kathleen had access to all correspond
ence Of the firm and that 1t must have
been she who in some manner had
gained the knowledge that had resulted
In a 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
w dlCh bhl wv LON NAo
miss her" And Luton had smiled un
der his heavy mustache He had an
idea that he could kill two birds with
q single stone.
That red headed kid seems pretty
thick with the typewriter" he said. 81
shouldn't be surprised if they worked
together You remember he brought G
telegram in Just as that Memphis dea
was put through"
Kelly" said Edge. why, he's 9
part of the office"
"All the same, | could show you
Edge waved protesting hand. H'
could not believe in the guilt Of any
ne In tie office
,c.y well,' he said wearily, 80
leave the matter to you"
That afternoon Kathleen waited aft
er closing time 10 finish OFF her book
Kelly. as usual. constituted himself he
escort. but he could not resist the temp
tation to steal across the street TO &c
the baseball scores.
Luton was there when he cam
back Kelly heard him before he open
ed the door and stood for n moment II
the hall
80 you see" Luton was saying 4"
can dismiss you, and you will leave un
der suspicion OF having betrayed you
employers. You can't get a job afte
that. fancy Now you say you'll fax
In the beach tins ,,v.IIg or I'll Il
you out tomorrow sou aad that brio
tapind kid. Now. give me kiss an
say you'll g.
There was sound Of Il struggle, an
Kelly burst into the room.
You quit that he said hotly. III
wise to you, ail right, and you NAL
trouble and III tell on you"
mir. Edge won't believe YOU" snee
ed Luton.
..No." but your wife WILL" was Il
retort. Luton made dive for Kell
and the boy lodged There was
chase around the table until Lutto
realizing that he was cutting no digr
ded figure. stalked out At the door