The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1910-05-19
OLD SARKs S UMBRELLA.


promotion TO the giddy heights CT a sec
ond division clerkship was due to a sharp
twinge of conscience on the part of Il
treasury official of the same name, who
happening to glance at that human docu-
ment, the pay-sheet of temporary clerks,
was moved to inquire the age and record
OF his namesake in the Kings civil serv-
ice.
"Old Sarks'' was the name by which
he was known throughout the office.
'Sarlls" was an abbreviation of "Sar
cophagus." One of the numerous office
wits had applied the name 10 him OH
hearing that he frequently devoted his
whole luncheon hour to neighboring
museum, which held famous sarcopha-
gus.
In reality there was little justification
for the name. His colleagues would have
been compelled to admit as much had
they cared to follow him on one of his
visits to the Soane museum, that peace
full house which, lulled by the hum of
distant traffic, sleeps dndisturbed on the
north side of Lincon's- inn fields. Here
he would descend the quaint staircase to
the little corridor which leads to the
monks parlor, and halt before the object
of his pllgrlmage-not the priceless, ala
baster sarcophagus that once upon a
time held the mummy of Seti |. but the
cast of a sleeping child.
Before this plaster gfure he would
stand. hat in hand. motionless as the
butterfly which, alighting on a tiny
flower, is pressed lovingly to the child's
breast. What he thought no man knew
There was something else calculated
to shake further the general confidence
i'll the suitability of the name Old Sarks
1t concerned certain Cir. whom he
used to greet each morning in Kingsway
He could not remember the first oc-
casion on which he had raised his hat
to her. In summer time it must have
been, for he had persuaded himself that
his action had been intended merely for
the purpose of allowing a cool current
of air to play on his overheated head
If the result of that innocent action had
been smile and a gentle inclination of
the head on the part of the girl, the
fault, if any, could hardly be ascribed to
him. After that incident, of course. he
had no alternative but to raise his hat
whenever he passed.
1t was her hair that first attracted
him-long, wavy hair, the sport of the
winds. the plaything of the sun. He was
glad she wore it down, all the more be-
cause she had reached the age when
most girls are eager to put it up.
They always passed each other in
Kingsway, he OIL his way to his office
near the Strand; she to small ground
floor room in a side street, where her
eyes would stray at intervals from the
weary keyboard of typewriter to the
| tops of the trees in Lincoln's- inn fields
! Accident showed him where she spent
the day. He was returning from one of
his pilgrimages to the Soane museum,
when he CHANGED to glance over the top
of a glass screen that shielded an office
window. With start he recognized the
girl within. Her hands were on the car
riage of the typewriter; but her eyes
were ranged high above the screen to-
wards the green trees in the cool square.
Since that day his homeward Journey
always took him by the window with
the advertisement of "Typewriting and
duplicating plays, specifications, etc."
displayed upon its screen. He found
himself wishing he could take her place
at the typewriter, and set her free. She
was rarely absent from her seat; and
the sight Of this young girl. cooped up
for longer hours than himself, filled him
with pity and indignation.
Then came a day which opened blue
and cloudless a day when to carry an
umbrella was to court the turning of
heads and the elevation of eyebrows.
The one umbrella he possessed happened
to be at the otfice-a piece of luck for
which he had reason to be thankful, for
< str 1-oIO
the west broke over the metropolis He
was nearing the corner of the street in
which the typewriting office was situat-
ed, when sudden thought made him
flush and slacken his pace. For few
moments he stood irresolute. Then the
memory of the girls thin summer frock
decided him. With an audacity that sur
prised himself, he entered the little room,
and stood for the first time on the other
side of tie window screen.
The girl looked up from her work au-
toma tically; then the blood rushed to
her pale face. With remark about the
weather, he begged permission 10 lend
her his umbrella. Nervously she STAN.
mered her thanks under the eyes of the
manageress-a thin woman in black,
who watched them behind severe spec
{
| glancing in, each evening, as he passed.
Rain was still falling next morning
when he reached Kingsway. He chose
the opposite side to that on which they
usually met, hoping to hail a bus He
was anxious she should not see that he
wanted his umbrella; and for that rea-
son he was Intentionally later than
usual. His plans, however, were futile.
A girl came hurrying across the street
| beneath an umbrella. She carried a
larger umbrella, which she held out to
| him.
st was good of you," she said.
"Thank you so much; but you shouldn't
really you shouldn't. Miss Libbler
says She glanced up the street,
then uttered a slight cry. "There she is
don't look" she implored. But
his eyes had followed hers, and had seen
the figure of the manageress looking
fxedly at them.
I'm late" the girl explained, trem-
bling. Good bye. [ mustn't see you
again. I shall never believe what Miss
| mean, you are good, | know
you are" She pressed his hand and
hurried away.
On that same day different specimens
Of typewrting and duplicating were
pasted in rows above the window screen
forming q wall which baffied the inqusi-
tive passerby, and hid the leafy tops of
the trees from the girl within. What
Miss Kibbler said he never knew.
Kingsway is a broad thoroughfare;
but perhaps he is wise in avoiding it.
Situations for girls are none too numer-
Gus. For him there is still the sleeping