Evening star., 1907-11-16

the employees had left al / o'clock with
the exception of the assistant bookkeeper.
who was working on balance. and the
! stenosra apher, who remained to finish some
letters SO that they could be signed and
mailed early Monday morning. Just be-
! fore the cashier had locked his desk he
| had handed tn. assistant bookkeeper an
envelope containing his weekly compen-
sation of S15, which the latter transferred
carelessly from the envelope to his pocket.
| Nor had the cashier sighted the girl,
for she also received an envelope: un-
like the man, however, she counted her
money carefully to see that the cashier
had made no error in the amount of her
salary-s12.5O-a having assured herself
| that it was all there. put the money in
| an elaborate silver purse and returned
to her letters. The head bowed over the
waves. puffs and. 1 am obliged to con-
! fess. rats could make it. and the little
! hands that manipulated the type writer
/ keys so skillfully looked as though their
| owner had just left the care of an ex-
| pert artist in the manicure line. The
man was about to congratulate himself
on having reached the source of his
difficulty when the girl turned from her
! desk with the remark:
I'm awfully glad summer is over and
fall is here, aren't you. Mr. Walters?'
Don't make much difference to me ex-
cept that I miss going to base ball now
and then and taking my canoe up the
river Sundays.
But now you can go to the theaters,' -
said the girl with a view to consoling
him for his past pleasures. Il suppose
you'll take in the Fascinating Flora
show: everybody's talking about it,"
The man thought of his meager salary.
the books he had to buy. as he had be-
gun law course, and the sister whom
he helped support and grimly remarked
that he didn't seem to care much for
the theater any more and that he didn't
believe Flora could fascinate him. The
girl laughed merrly as she inquired
whether it would be too much to ask the
name of the lucky girl who could fasci-
nate him, and then. without giving him
a chance to answer. went on
"One thing l like about fall particu-
larly is that the violet season Is here
again; you know / just love to see the
words Fresh violets' up In the flower
store windows and the way the florists
fix up the boxes of violets appeals to my
artistic sense. l believe they try to out
do each other Don't you think there's s
"a lot of sentiment about a bunch of vio-
lets, Mr.. Walters?'
Never noticed it much said the man,
as if the conversation We're not quite
to his liking. Il believe I'll have my
balance In a second. taking up his pencil
| again with all evident desire to change
the subject.
| The typewriter ratified on steadily for
| about fifteen minutes when 1t stopped
| for the second time.
! Excuse me. Mr.. Walters, for disturb
ing you'll knew you're fearfully busy, but
| how many Is are there in Manila" puck
| ering up her forehead perpleEed!y.
| I'm not authority on spelling by
! any means, Miss Carroll" said the man,
but since you've put it up to me, l would
| say there are two
mo, l believe there is only one. III
| tell you. since neither of US is sure about
It, let's make a bet. Just for fun Let
| me see, I'll bet you a pound of fudge
there is only one. What 90 you bet?"
| "Oh. whatever you suggest, Miss Car
| roll OF course. What do you want it?"
well, you might make it q box of
| vioiets-they're always as good as any
| thing. A pound of home made fudge
| against a box of viOlets, and if you win
III bring the fudge Monday morning.
| Now, III get a newspaper and look it
up / always go to the newspaper instead
| of the ctionary. 1t is SO much easier
| Silence for few moments, while a slow
smile Of comprehension gradually broke
| over the mans face. Oh Mr.. Walters,
| there is Cnly one and ! win with a shy
| air of hesi1ancy. Isn't it too bad?"
| A half hour later found the man ask
| ing clerk to put up box of violets,
! with lots of trimmings. as he expressed IT,
and when the suave employe of the florist
I
! for his crisp tiVe-dollar bill, he tucked
the violets under his arm and said moth
ing. lis mind was busly occupied try
| ing to solve the puzzle as 10 how the
| VIC d NJ Manila could have been used in the
| .ette.s that day.
AS the clock struck 3 he laid the
box on the desk of the pretty girl Dur
ing his absence she had not lost any
time. as her work was finished and lad
| away and she was ready to cover her ma
| chine.
For me?' she said, opening her elo.
quent eyes. My. what a lovely sur
pr Sc. You're too kind for words. Real
| ly, l didn't expect you to pay that bet.
| Half the time 1 forget to pay nine"
| With eager hands she opened the pretty
| box took out the fresh flowers, buried
! her litte nose in their fragrance and
then pinned them at her belt with the
ribbon would show. The man followed
the little pantomime interestedly: when
! she had perched dainty hat on her very
dainty head at Just the right angle,
slipped on an Eton jacket SO light and
tiny that it did not deserve the name of
coat, put on pair of glace kid gloves
and gathered uo some letters, a hand
karChief and the aforementioned elab-
crate purse, she SAID, with a saucy, se,f-
conscious air, Now, don't they look stun
! ning?
! THAT they do was the answer.
! THANK you SO much for them. They
are so beautiful and fresh / know they
Will keep for days. Mother says l take
better care of v:olets than l do of my
health. | hate to see flowers de- He
had gone over to his high desk against
the wall. Its too Dad you have not
found that mistake yet. / wonder if 1
have annoyed you? But l am going in
a minute. and then you must hurry up
and find the error and get outdoors. 1t
/ is shame to waste such pretty after
/ noon here and + street is so attractive
l,!r .f flrN+ NOW ntye-
the flowers. Good-by." And the door
such a genial, pretty little piece of FEM
| fess, even against his will. to a lonely
| feeling after she and the vioets had de-
| serted him. He picked up his pencil
his own account. Twelve dollars in his
| pocket and be must send So to his sis
ter; his board was 81 80, which left him
/ exactly $3.50 for his laundry, lunches,
/ car fare newspapers, cigars and club
! dues. not to mention the law books he had
/ intended to buy. Some bookkeeping is
not SO very hard he murmured and
! then this thought ran through his head:
Girls sure funny things. They're
winners, though. every time"
| Tha girl, meantime, had walked down
| F street, stopped at an attractive and
| toothsomc conf ctionery window display
/ whore she Joined a friend who had evil
dently been waiting for her.
! well you have kept me; I was afraid
the policeman would get after me for
lettering on the corner Let's go right in
/ and have a Sundae or ice cream of some