The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-06-15
TIE EVENING STORY
Discharging Mary Drake.
By Jane Osborne.)

Grenoble paced back and forth through
| the offices clutching his long, white
| hands in restrained annoyance. Never,
| in all the course of his twenty years
experience as prime minister to the
| great steel king, Ellington, had the
| wheels of the office machinery played
such a trick, and now a mere slip Of
a ten-dollar-a-week girl had tied up a
| big deal involving tens of thousands of
dollars by misfiling an important let
| ter.
Grenoble came back to the outer Of
| flee and stood behind the pretty stem
| ographer. She was such defenseless,
well meaning little thing, and now she
| squarely and unflinchingly as she adj
| lritted that the letter was still miss
| ing, that Grenoble was speeches..
| The fact was, that Mary brakes
simple childlike frankness and pretti-
ness had once more disarmed old
Grenoble. The little stenographer 5
smile had proved again to be her sur
est means of self defense.
| Still she searched with unruffled Sc
| renity through the files. and still
| Grenoble stood torn between real anger
and compassion.
II do wish 1 could find that letter."
the girl murmured in a conversational
ton.
At this moment, Tom Wayne. Gren-
oble's clever young assistant, came into
|
! of habit that he had been acquiring for
] the last few weeks on the figure of the
pretty stenograp1ler. Then he saw
Grenoble, pale and struggling with sup
pressed irritation, and he knew that
something had gone wrong.
Miss Drake was the first TO break
| the silence.
please, Mr.. Wayne" she said ap-
pealingly, without looking at him.
can't you think where I might have
put that order from Smiths? You see,
Mr.. Grenobfe want to have it right
away and it will take all the afternoon
! for me to look in every folder in this
cabinet. 1t isn't where it ought to be
and I can't think where could have
put it,
OF course, the letter was found Tom
Wayne himself helped the girl look
through the files for it. IT had been
misfiled-Miss brakes fault of course
and even Mr.. Wayne realized then
that Miss Drake would have to leave.
for this error, and several others which
had not been of so great moment. only
went to prove that the little woman
was as useless on the files as she had
| been at typewriting, or stenographv
or at the office telephone switchboard
where, after a week, she had proved
herself incapable of mastering the me-
chanism of the wires and plugs.
See here, Wayne" Grenoble said
to his young assistant that afternoon
when they had finished discussing the
important business of the day. you
Drake. have tried a half dozen times
and somehow she doesn't seem to I'M
derstand. The first time 1 told her to
go she was so nice about it that I
promised to let her try another week.
Then when I told her that she had
shown no Improvement she pleaded
SO earnestly to stay that I turned the
telephone boy into an Office boy and
II fl-xy ut fn1A
you know how impossible she was
there. Then it was on the files and
she has failed. I have tried again to
discharge her but I don't believe she
quite understood me. To tell you the
truth. Wayne, she is SO near the age
of my own daughters that I haven't
the heart to tell her brutally to go.
But I think it would be easy enough
for you. Mr.. Ellington will be back
in a day or so and he would never
stand for any one like Miss Drake
True, indeed, thought Wayne. Mary
Drake would have to leave before
Billington'S return. One of the secrets
of the great financier's success was his
ability to choose his employees. Now
for the first time since he had been
in business he had consented to go
away and had sailed for Europe for a
few months of rest. Before he had
gone he had suggested that a new
stenographer be employed to tighten
the tasks of the hard working women
IN the ONCE curing the summer
months. Miss Drake was the result Of
the suggestion-she had come from
the employment agency the day after
Ellington left, and for the first time in
history an employee of Billington's was
chosen without his personal interview.
Surely, thought Tom Wayne, for the
good of Miss Drake she would have
to be discharged before Billington's
return.
1t was with thoughts of the cool,
deliberate manner of the great chief.
into the outer office that night intent
on discharging Mary Drake. He walk
ed deliberately toward her-trying not
to look at her face for fear of catching
one of her disarming smiles. He
drew a chair beside her desk where
she sat working on the files, and ex-
planned to her In low monotone that
her services on the files had proved
worse than useless.
you may as well go home at once"
he said. There will be no more to
do"
"I know that 1 have failed said
Mary, looking at him out of those
frank blue eyes. land am sorry"
ST am sorry. too said Tom, forced
to look at her, but he dared say no
more. He had discharged her and
that was the end of it. Then he sat
watching her as she went to the
wardrobe to get her wraps. and fol-
lowed every motion as she adjusted
her hat and drew on her little brown
gloves. He said nothing and only
smiled as she said good night to him
and slipped out of the door.
That night Tom suffered mental tor
ments-remorse, pity and longing