The Meeker herald., 1907-07-13
THE DAY OF
HIS FAILURE
D MARY KAruERlHE RELY.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
'(Copxright. BY Daily Story Pub. Cal


to the papers soon enough. Things
always do. But we in the Office knew
what was coming long before out
siders did. We could see how things
were going, and we knew that, soon-
or or later, the boss would go to the
wall.
You see, Mr.. Darlington, the
boss, had inherited the mills from
his father and he had sort of fam
lily pride in running them in the
same way his father had before him.
And George says old-fashioned bust
ness methods don't hold to-day.
Maybe he and the rest of them are
right. ] don't know. I've been
working in Offices for good many
years, and / think l know more
about the run Of business affairs
than most ordinary girls, but there
are some things even / can't discuss
intelligently.
So it is just the part of the affair
that ! saw from my place in the in
ner Office that I can tell about, and l
guess that part is worth more than
all the stuff the papers printed after
all. At least, it meant more to the
boss.
For it wasn't just the crash that
was sure to come in his business that
the boss had to face. He had tro,l-
bles of his own outside of that. No
body knew what the matter was e1-
actly, or why his wife had left him,
OF where she was; but every one
knew that she was gone, and that
the big house on the hill had been
shut up for months. Some Of the
girls said she was in Europe some
where, and some said she had gone
out to California, but Mamie CAT
fiery always declared she was in
Sioux Falls waiting for South Da-
kota divorce.
She had been poor girl when
he had married her, but she was
young and pretty and he was very
much in love with her. They had
been devoted to each other at first,
but after year they were hardly on
speaking terms, and he spent most
Of his time at the club when he was
away from the Office. Then before
another year hsd gone, she had left
him and no one knew where she
was. Maybe Mamie was right.
Some of the girls said he had
grown tired of her, and that he had
neglected her for his business, and
that the trouble had started that
way. But Mamie Gallery shook that
silly head of hers, and said. she
would bet anything there was an
other woman in it. 'sThe men are
all alike, anyway" she said. Sand
the boss is no better than the rest"
Mamie thinks she knows a lot.
Just because George never looked at
her after / came to the office-but
that's my story, not the boss.
Anyway knew there was no
truth in that. The boss isn't that
kind. l haven't seen him and worked
for him every day for two years
without getting a pretty good idea
Of the kind of man he is. 1 had
worked for the other kind before 1
came to him and I know the diff
ference.
The girls said, too, that he didn't
care at all. 'The old icicle," said
Mamie Gaffery. "He hasn't bit of
feeling. I don't blame her for
leaving him."
But l knew that was not true
either. The boss did care and I knew
it. ] saw more of him than the
others did. He could put on that
cold, icy air Of his when people
were around, but there were times in
his Office, when I know he forgot me
and forgot himself to. He would
stop in the middle of sentence he
was debating, and sit there with his
face drawn and white and his eyes
staring straight at nothing. Maybe
my head is full Of sentimental ideas,
but l was sure it was not the bust
ness he was thinking of.
1t was the last day. The mills had
ALREADY closed down, and all the
world knew that the boss had failed.
We had been paid off the Saturday
night before. I guess we all felt