The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-10-24
THE EVENING STORY @
LOST AND FOUND DESK.

Copyright. 1918. by w. werner.)
Miss Maybry listened c~ourteously.
That was what she was paid to do. 1t
had heen her work for more years
than she cared to remember. He was
a tired man, rather shabby. with
tanned hands. plainly from out 81
town, and not used to city crowds. He
had lost .the pocketbook near the
drugs and toilet articles counter-he
was sure of that. because he opened
it there to pay for Il bottle Of per-
fume for Indy Three minutes later
when he stopped at the handker-
chiefs. he missed 1t. 1t held $3.50.
Miss Maybry drew her black eve
hrows close together annoyedly. The
of having largo sums lost in 1t. Pick
pockets. of course, a got 1t. 1t was
now III hour. ANY clerk would have
reported it if it had been found. And
If he had left It on a counter. as he
half thought. it would haNe been
found. But she did not like to tell
him how unlikely he was ever to see It
again. She iotted down his name and
address, hotel of the kind patron
him to come back the mex morning
for news. and as soon AS he had left
telephoned the head detective. who
also was annoyed. 1t was his bust
ness to keep the store cleared Of pick
pockets. and q loss of this amount
would bring him a reprimand.
James Powell was back at $ the
next morning for news. Miss May
bry has scarcely put away her purse
before he appeared. anxious and ques-
tioninE. She guessed that the loss
was serious and dashed his hopes as
gently as possible. He fingered IL
moment. but he was Immediately en-
crossed by a worried f,oorman who
wanted to know if an alligator bag
containing two receipts for preserves,
a powder puff. n IL cents in change
had been turned in yet Then a cash
girl handed iii a cheap gold bracelet,
4eft.that very morning in the laratory.
probably by one of the salesgirls. The
telephone tangled meanwhile. She
picked up the receiver while taking
the bracelet. No. madam. your gloves
have not vet turned up" Even as she
hung the receiver up it tangled again:
Had a silver mesh bag been handed
in? Miss Maybry answered that it
had not and jotted it down on the
memoranda pad.
James Powell went away saying
that he would be back at loon. She
scarcely saw him go. Her eyes,
gray n alert, were scanning the
pad. And she had to make out her
weekly report thai morning. The
two vertical lines between her eyes
deepened to a frown of absorption.
Almost mechanically she wrote. an
swered the incessant iangling of the
phone. and wrote again. If you had
asked her if she was tired she would
have said stoutly no. Yet over her
hung a faint air of weariness-that
WEAKNESS which is produced only by
day after day of HOMOGENEOUS work.
For eighteen years she had sat at
that lost and found desk. Her first
bungling assistance had long ago
given. way TO parrot-like adaptation.
At first it had chen interesting. So
many people: and all angry or wor-
ried or in despair. But eighteen years
had dulled the interest. There were
80 many people. Except for an extra
large loss. which the heads of the
firm might take displeased notice of.
Miss Maybry heard the various hap
penings of The day with courteous UNI
She was a slim, prim
woman, lot good looking. She never
had been that, even that first year
when she was only seventeen. Her
hair was too smooth and coiled too
sedately. Her mouth was too large
and her complexion only mediocre.
Only a pair Of keen. gray eyes, shad-
owed by black brows and lashes,
redeemed c And those eyes had
always been too matter-of-fact and
Unconditional to attract men. Women,