The Washington times., 1909-03-26
CHAPTER II.


10 ilton found her position in the Of
nce of Darlington q Sons a very
pleasant berth
Her work was fairly easy. and 1t was
made doubly 80 by the fact that VIII
bur Leslie manifested his devotion by
giving her all the help he could
Laura soon began to consider Wilbur
q very nice. pleasant and polite young
man. She was sometimes a little en-
larrassed by the frankly ardent man
aer in which he would SAFE at her; but
- she soon saw that ne meant no Of
sense. and was in other respects, a
model OF chivalry. she did not resent
this weakness on his part
Wilbur Leslie vas not the only inmate
of the office who was avowedly head
over heels in love with the beautiful
stenographer.
Danny. the errand boy. made her the
object of his first grand passion. He
expressed his alteration by presenting
her with packages of pepsin chewing
gum and bags OF roasted peanuts. He
even abandoned hts practice OF smoking
cigarettes in the outer office because,
g ne put it. IT wasn't etiquette ror
s.nt 20 smoke in the presence Of a
lady
But there was somebody else besides
" ubur ana Danny Nho soon became
extremely attentive to the new stenog-
Tapher.
Wilbur noted with great jealousy that
Arthur Darlington seemed to DE greatly
smitten with the beautiful girl. The
Junior partner now spent much more
time in the Office thar nc had ever done
before.
He came downtown quite early and
cid not leave until the close Of office
hours. lie dictated numerous business
letters to Miss Hamilton and seized
upon every possible excuse TO hang
around her desk
He bought her bunches Of violets and
expensive boxes Of candy and was con
tinual1y praising her work
Wilbur viewed these proceedings with
alarm. He saw. TOO, that the girl
seemed 70 be greatly hattered by the al
tentiOns Of the handsome junior partner
Not that she appeared 10 give him
any encouragement She was always
modest aud reserved. She endeavored
10 pay strict attention TO her work and
would not allow herself TO be led into
long personal conversations during bust
ness hours.
Arthur Darlington had twice invited
her out 90 lunch, but the girl had firmly
declined on both occasions, giving as an
excuse that her parents objected 10 her
lunchine with young men unless proper
" chaparOUed.
But. although size took such scrupu-
lous care TO observe the proprieties
WiIbur's jealous eyes observed that she
blusaed vfvidly and that her eyes gIowed
with pleasure when the junior partner
paid her compliments or praised her
work, and also that she appeared TO
prize highly the overs and confections
which Arthur Darlington bestowed upon
her
What chance do ] stand against such
3 powerful rival27 groaned the infatu-
ated young man despairngly. .Tf Ar
thur Darlington is really serious and
not merely flirting with her as he has
done with other young women employed
here he is bound TO win her. She seems
half in love with him already"
Wilbur knew OF a way By which he
could check the attentions Of the junior
partner toward the girl He felt sure
that IT be reported what was going on
30 Frank harrington, as he had prom
ised 10 do. tho senior partner would
soon put an end TO his brothers attcn-
TORS to Miss Hamilton
But Wilbur shrank from doing this
u went against his grain 10 attempt TO
benefit himself and get the best Of his
rival by such course. He felt that.
under the circumstance. he could not
keep the promise which he had made
Frank harrington
When he had made that promise lie
had not considered his own standing in
the matter ~ an He had not realized
q the time that. even for the welfare
81 the firm. as his employer had put il.
he could not take this mean and unfair
a4vautaee of q rival iu love
Therefore he deliberately broke his
promise TO the senior partner. lie did
not report 10 the latter the fact that
the junior partner was openly making
love 10 the beautiful steuOgrapuer. Hc
said nothing 10 the head of the firm
about the floral offerings and the pretty
compliments which arthur harrington
was bestOWiug upon the girl.
II Frank Darlington was aware or
what was going on iu the outer Office
lie kept his own counsel lie was the
only iumatC OF the place who a. not
pay personal attention To Miss HamiI-
ton.
His attitude toward her was kind and