The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-03-02

picked up the receiver.
Suddenly ill?" he said. am
sorry. Not serious? I'm glad OF that
You have sent substitute? Very
well. Hope you will recover soon"
He hung up the receiver little
Ihurriedly and frown clouded his
face.
"If there was n baseball game on
to-day and that girl was boy, I'D
have my suspicious" he muttered.
"These vacation attacks grow more
frequent. | fancy there must be a
matrimonial cloud on the horizon"
He looked around and saw that
he was not alone. A slender young
woman, plainly dressed stood at a
little distance awaiting his attention.
"Ah, you are here" he said. "Can
you take dictation?"
The girl stepped forward.
"Yes, sir" she answered. She laid
aside her hat and jacket and seat
ing herself by the desk, took up pad
and pencil.
The gray haired man rapidly die
tated several letters, making notes
from time to time on the correspond
ence lying before him.
"Typewrite these" he said.
She brought the letters to him
presently, then turned back to the
typewriter and clicked off a brief
note.
"These seem to he all right" said
The man at the desk. 81 think that
will finish up for this afternoon. If
Laura isn't down tomorrow, you may
come again"
The girl bowed.
"There is one more letter." she
said.
He took the note she handed him,
and after a quick glance at her, read
It aloud.
Sir" the note began 81 am not
the girl you expected. I'm an out-of-
town girl hooking for employment,
but not ordinary work. / want op-
portunities, because I'm girl with
ideas. You will find me useful If you
give me a trial"
The man at the desk dropped the
note on the desk.
"That's an extraordinary communi-
cation" he said whats your
name?"
ada Bruce"
He family smiled and looked back
at the note.
"Your first name is perilously close
to IDEAS" he said. He settled back
in his chair. "And you think we need
ideas?" he mildly asked.
"Yes," the girl replied; "that was
my idea in coming here"
He smiled again.
"We have built up fairly COM
Portable business" he said, without
feeling any necessity for employing a
purveyor of ideas. We are careful
and conservative. Our name is val
liable asset, and our goods speak for
themselves. While the concern is
sound, we haven't dollar to waste on
experiments.
He paused and studied the face OF
the girl.
"This is the opportunity I hoped
to find," she quietly said. "You car
have no objection to extending your
volume of trade?"
"Not the slightest objection" he
replied. He was amused by her grav.
fly. But, as l have said, we haven't
a penny for experiments. We are
slow and sure and safe"
The girl nodded.
"Thats a good expression" she
said. 81 must make note of it. Yol
do not object to my using it?"
She was very amusing.
"Not in the least" he replied
SLOW do you propose to utilize it
Not on the stationery of the newl!
organized Aero Club?"
She gravely shook her head.
at would be much more appropri
ate on the letterheads of the super
intendent of the Erie Canal"
The man suddenly laughed.
"That's very good" he said. IS,
good that I'm going to ask you to out
line your methods of procedure. II
admit I'm little curious. This is tn
6rst time I've encountered purveyo
of IDEAS"
Again the girl gravely nodded.
sour profession" she said, "is
good deal like all the others. W
don't display our entire stock at
single sitting. This is true of tn
lawyer, of the doctor, of the profes
sor. Each preserves wise reticenc
regarding the full extent of his knowl
edge. This very proper course is fol
lowed by the idea expert, too"
The man at the desk was sti
amused.
"But may not this idea of reticenc
be taken to conceal lamentabl
scarcity of stock?"
She slightly smiled.