Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1906-06-02
A Nice Lady Book Agent
WHY HER SECOND VISIT
PROVED FRUITLEss.

F.! arrived. IOf III was altogether u new
kind of book agent. No brassy clothes,
no brazen speech, no furtive look OF
apprehension, no mystery as 10 how
the ~janitor was evaded. For this was
the newest thing in book agents.
She was young, she was fair, she
had a hat Of the most recent creation,
and she swished when she walked
not a vulgar swish, but The subdued,
expensive kind.
The 13 young men admitted that
they were intellectual enough to read
history. Thirteen young men saw
how easy it was to acquire a set of
World Makers OF All Ages in the
moderate terms of % cents a week,
with a years subscription TO the Siren
uous Magazine thrown in. Thirteen
subscriptions in half an hour. Easy.
While she staid the Office seemed
radiant. When she left it was as
though pervasive psychic influence had
departed. yet the place was still per-
meated with a subtle fragrance, an es-
senee, a spiritual sweetness and light.
a memory that lasted all day. She
was so young, so hesitant, so helpless
in that sordid atmosphere of business
and rolltop desks, and dollarsl Even
the boss subscribed. Who could have
resisted her?
Fourteen sets of World Makers"
arrived promptly, and IA men received
their copies of the Strenuous Maya
zine. Then came the sequel.
He was short and husky, with a
brutal jaw, a receipt book, and pencils
sticking out of his pocket and behind
his ear. He walked past the boss and
the Office boy like an expressman, or
| even gas man, and stood in the midst
of the 13 with his receipt book ready,
his pencil poised. His speech was
short.
Smith, Robinson Q Coz" he asked.
1t was admitted.
Strenuous Magazine-$1 apiece"
he commanded. All dug it up. Even
the boss was to him simply a name
on an order book.
Another month OF the Strenuous
Magazine, the copies of which were
laid carefully on the set of World
Makers of All Ages Then he came
again. His beauty had not improved
noticeably. He was huskier than at
first sight, his jaw protruded more, his
speech was shorter.
zone dollar apiece" be ordered, and
everybody produced.
Some more magazines on top of the
dust covered World Makers and
again he stood in the Office, uglier than
ever and speech yet more brief.
zone dollar" he said, and there was
more digging. 1t was the third month,
and we still had nine months to serve
of the original curse.
zone dollari' lie said, quarrelsome-
ly, the fourth time.
"Dollar." he doomed the fifth month
and his shoulders seemed to have
grown broader. his chest thicker, his
> jaw more domineering.
The sixth month he came in the
back way. This time he said nothing,
but everybody knew and went down
into his pocket.
J There We're 10 clerks and the boss.
Eighty-four dollars he had carried off,
and the score was only half paid.
She had seemed so frail, so little
likely to keep the spark of life in her
sweet body when forced out into a
cold, merciless. mathematical struggle
for existence. She had tarried but
half an hour. They could not know
where she had gone. But everybody
hoped no harm had come to her.
How he was hated IN the seventh
month, and the eighth, and the ninth.
Only the prospect Of ultimate release
enabled the clerks to bear him. 1t was
in the tenth month that his accounts
got tangled. Then he came and spoke
somewhat at length.
81 amt straight on this thing" he
admitted, In a growl. you'll have to
show me your receipts"
The receipts! Good Lordl Nobody
had taken care of them. There should
be nine apiece, but some had three
two. Even the boss was shy a few.
Only the %bookkeeper had a full hand
"You see that red line on the bot
tom?" he asked; well, 1t goes"
Nobody had noticed the red clause
before. 1t read: Subscribers will
NoAOAuAAg piCoSAF C lCCclplS as pTOOI IN
case of errors. otherwise they will be
liable for payments" For each miss
ing receipt a dollar. There were over
so missing. To complete the collec-
tons more digging was done.
All things come to an end. Time
rolled slowly. But finally the twelfth
month came. He appeared for the last
time.
"Keno!" he said, as he received the
last dollars. Some men would have
been regretful. But he was not. Re-
greet was as foreign to his nature as
beauty.
The twelfth month came and was
gone, and with it the original curse.
Then, n afternoon, quite suddenly
and without warning, the frou-frou OF
silken garments was heard to say
yes, ma'am," shyly, and she stood
before the clerks. Carelessly clasped
- - an4~ksf.- o11w~AN