The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1911-12-01
THE TANNING OF THURBERR.
How That Very Necessary Task Was
Neatly Attended To.

Z A'NNN"F"@
Neatly Attended To.
(W. II. Rose in Cleveland Plain Dealer. }
The man at the desk looked up. lie
looked up with little Jerk. II was ehal
acteristic OF the man, They called nun
i bundle OF nerves aud the nerves OF ms
neck were unusually active.
"Melly" he said sharply.
The girl IN the doorway came forward
She held newspaper clipping IN her hhhd.
II have called, she said, IN answer
10 this, ...-.,.l
He was annoyed She had interrupted
him al an inoppOTtune moment. An IN
portant letter held his attention.
"Sit down. he snapped. 49,,
The girl opened her eyes little widel'
III beg your PARDON she sad.
He erkcd his gaze away from the letter
and toward the girl,
"Ths II not a drawing room, he snalled
''Wll you kindly be seated!
The girl took the nearest chair ana
lcisurely drew of her gloves. Then she
| looked about her. Ii was an extremely
dusty Office. Her gaze Travelled from me
table to the bookcase and across to the
hat tree and then 10 the rug at his feet.
/ She patted this rug with the toe OF her
shoe. \ little puff OF dust arose
"Atohool' said the girl
Don't do thatl' snapped the man, =.
Then don't have such dusty Office,
/ said the girl calmly.
/ The man turned his head ana caught
her in the act OF sncezlng again. ,,.
Are you doing that as pasllme'
he demanded.
II can't h.l.help it, sncczed the girl.
"Of course You can help IL, snarled the
man. Its an nervousness. It's easy
enough to make up your mind not to do
it, | never-neycr-sn sn-sneeze~-atchoo!
II was a sneezc that brought the tears
to his eyes And 1t was promptly followed
''lou see" said The girl very mildly,
The man scowled darkly.
What do YOU mean by coming in here
and kicking M a dusty Can't you sit still! |
The girl held her head very much on
one side
"You know why came here" she said
Kicking up a dust had nothing to do
with il. You advertised for girl for
Office work. You said nothing about a
dust bin
He meant to say something cutting. But
somehow he didn't say II. He turned back
to his letter For a moment his pen scratch
ed vigorously.
How do you spell accelerate" he de.
manded without looking up.
The girl told him. The busy pen con
tinucd its scratching.
Are there two ms in accommodate!
"Nes"
DO you read French?'
"Nes"
"Read that"
As he turned and handed her a letter
he caught her eve. She was smiling.
What are you laughing at!' he harshy
demanded
You are so amusingly abrupt she re.
piled al,
yes. Hasn't anybody ever told you
that It was:'
She asked the question in the most in. (
noeent way.
He choked down something in his throat.
I'm waiting to hear that letter." he q
snapped
She spread out the sheet.
Monsieur. - she slowly began, " | eN- !
lend TO monsieur my compliments and
couple them with my contempt. /
What's that:' snarled the man at the
lesk. $
1T is here, said the girl. DO YOU wish !
ne TO 20 ony' t
Go on
i regard you, monsieur, as person
Utterly uncivilized - she resumed, j j
egard you as coarse and rude and brutal
I Is 10 me a wonder that yOu, monsieur,
an secure the respect of those with whom '
business brings you in contaCt-to say
iothing of your unfortunate family. When $
entered your ollice-nr let me rather d
az denl expected from monsieur the
reatment that is usually accorded gentle q
nan and a stranger. On the contrary,
our manners were brusque, irritating, in "
ultlng was glad to leave your room n
endercd obnoxious both by dirt and your
seek relief in the pure air
the highway The business | would have Ct
laced in your hands | am highly gratifed Il
. withhold. II also pleases me to inform
on IN tins letter concerning the place you
eservedly occupy in my esteem. | re- W
llain'. monsieur, .unalterably your despiser,
Ienri Villiers' Y;
The man at the desk nodded as he took W
he letter from the girl. III
THE little Frenchman is bit peppery," az
e growled HE doesn't seem to under.
and that might have taken him for some W
ody else" He thrust the letter into
igeonhole. Ia
But aren't you going to answer him."
lie girl asked.
Answer him? Why should / answer
i'm? All I could tell him would be to "a
, to blue blazes And that would scare
i'm still more"
you scared him, them" m
mo doubt ! did. He was poor thing
The girl nodded, or
He must have been. No real man would
ave been frightened" an
He stared at her gil
Does this mean that you would not be be
raid to work for me?" su
afraid? Why should | be afraid?" en-
He laughed unpleasantly ba
''The girl who held the job you want he
e one who left my service Yesterday glC
me horrid tyrant AT least, ST.
ats what she informed me" if
The girl took off her hat ne
Il see that your filing has fallen behind" tn
e said. perhaps I'd better commence th
that" Al
The man at the desk stared again.
~ paid the other girl 81 he growled flo
mot nearly enough" said the new "
mer. "But we won't discuss that until
re been here week. Anything to die hir
te?" tn,
She looked around str
i'The typewriter is in the other room, air
said. 81 couldn't stand it in here" qui
I'll see that it is put in proper condi- wa
m said the girl. Haven't you a tel
hone?" |
That's in the other room too. l could we
t be bothered with it," loo
we will have an extension carried TO VIII
: table, said the girl. 81 will attend dra
the bother" she
he eyed her grimly. I
What else?" he asked WI
6The dirt - she nromntlv apsverad +;os