Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1908-01-24
Henry and
The Bum B."
BY Arthur Brindamour.
Copyrighted. 1901. by E, C. Pa


Howard DiShton stopped at the ste
nographer's desk. and Henry ground his
teeth together savagely, He knew very
we'll that he could never hope to marry
Phoebe Childers, for she had made
this quite clear when, under the first
impulse OF his boyish love. he had
written her fervid declaration Of his
intention TO marry her when he should
have grown up. Thereafter II was q
hopeless passion that he nursed, but
his grief was not assuaged at the spec
tacle OF Dighton bending over his
desk. for the lad shrewdly noticed that
she did not draw away from the chief
clerk as she did when the junior
partner came to her desk. as he so
often did,
Time had been when Dighton was
Henry's boylsh hero, II was he who
had trained the lad TO Office ways, and
until they two became rivals for Miss
Chllders' love DiGhton had been Hen
RVS favorlte, But with the coming OF
the pretty typewriter to the Office all
this had been changed,
As Dighton stepped away from the
desk Henry slid up to Miss Childers'
chair with remark conjured up on
the spur OF the moment, Just to show
Dighton that he, too. could lean over
Miss Childers' desk until the fair hair
almost brushed his cheek, Then he
went back to his desk, but not before
Dlghton had called him to his side and
had sharply ordered him to stop wan
derlng about the office,
an get square with you." muttered
Henry as he went slowly to his seat,
and even phoebe's bright smile as he
again passed her desk did not ease the
hurt TO his pride, He stood well with
Miss Childers, hut II was within Digh-
toms province TO "call him" before her,
and the man had an absurd and UNI
reasoning jealousy of the boy. Digh-
ton had not yet gained the assurance
to put his fate to the test, and tho air
of easy familiarity with which Henry
copied his exact attitude was not to BIO
borne by somewhat fiery and love
tried temper,
Henry was stlll meditating the par
tlcular form of torture to which he
would like to see Dighton submitted
when the two active partners, Evans
and sutton. came out OF the private Of
fice. Klncaid. the silent partner, was
with them, and their faces were grave
and serious, The senior partner be-
came spokesman.
''The Burton, Bradley company has
obtained our bids ON the naval job"
he said without preliminary, "Can you
explain. Miss Childers. how they come
10 he IN possession OF typewriter
copy of our bldg"
II know nothing OF H." said the girl
evenly. AS soon as the proposal was
made out returned TO Mr., Sutton tho
original, while the typewriter copy l
laid ON your desk to be signed"
Kincaid looked sharply ut the junior
partner. "rhat Is correct, MFR, SUIT
tony" he asked
~ think So" said Sutton uncertain
ly. 81 remember Miss Childers giving
me rough draft OF the bid and laying
some papers ON Mr.. Evans desk,
was just about to go 10 lunch. and aft
er thrustlng the draft In the safe
left. l did not look to see the copy ON
Mr.. Evans desk"
Kincald frowned,
ut Is unfortunate for YOU" he said,
turning TO the typewriter, that Mr..
Sutton did not examine the copy ON
the other desk Some one In this Of
ice delivered to tho other company all
our figures. They made their bid few
thousand lower aud got the contract,
The man from whom l obtained my
information could not tell me by whom
the delivery was made, but the infer
ence Is obvious, You are the only
stenographer employed In this Office"
He waved the discriminating docu-
ment toward her, and the current OF
air from the electric fan blew II out
OF his hand, Henry, who had been
gradually edging closer to Miss Chill
ders' desk, sprang to pick 1t up. He
rose TO his feet slowly, ignoring Kin
cald's impatient gesture.
This amt Miss Childers' writing"
he declared, Even a kid could see
that"
You employ detective upon your
stafrg" asked Kincald of Evans. with a
sarcastic smile. Henry flushed.
"I'm only n KID" he retorted, but
got sense, This was written on Mr.,
Sutton's machine"
Sutton flushed He had been n clerk
for Evans before an unexpected legacy
had permitted him TO buy into the firm.
He stlll used the typewriter occasion
ally.
Don't you see that bum BIT" de.
manded Henry. That's on Mr.. SUIT.
toms machine. The r key fell OF
about a month ago. and they sent n
ham over 10 fix IL, He didn't know
as much about the job as do, and he
left Il crooked. Get Miss Childers to
write something on her machine"
The girl grssped the idea and rapidly
Transcribed few lines from the pa.
per. Kincaid examined the two and
nodded approvlngly toward Henry.
You've been reading dime novels
and detective stories to some purpose"
he said. Though I'm hanged II ever
saw their use before Let's see that
machine OF yours. sutton"
He led the way into the private OF.
fee, and Henry followed. unchallenged,
though Dighton and Miss Childers re-
manned outside. Sutton uncovered his
machine and wrote few lines. When
he arose his face was drawn and white.
at looks bad for me-" he said THE
boy was right about the broken key.
The repair man could not adjust II,
and as I was In a hurry to use the