The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-10-26
TheNew Boy
Initiation


McNulty was. primarily, dreadful
wag. Secondarily. he was very eA-
cellent stenographer, althoush IN MS
speech there sometimes lurHed p u
rality of negatives in one sentence
while moods, lenses a1d suea HA-
trifies were more or less l9lo.' u
However, this lent ric.ureslueness 10
a character really lovable and certain
ly fun-loving.
In the course Of events new once
boy was taken on. Alas. poor urchln'
Nothing so exciting had TRANSFERRED at
Dope & Co.'S in, 10. these many years
Not, in fact, since one OF the ancient
clerks in the bookkeeping department
| had taken unto himself an actual wire
who now kept him as busy hustling
as she had been wont to keep the
,, telephone switchboard in her pre-
matrimonial days.
And so Lawrence appeared on Mon
day morning to be the new ONCE boy
his guileless countenance freshiy
soaped by mother and his poor little
hair wetted and brushed within an
| inch of it's life. II really was shame,
and the details are too narrowing to
be chronicled. But, be 1t said lest the
tender-hearted weep in vain, that he
lived bravely through his initiation by
the three veteran Office boys having
been discovered in the storeroom
punching the largest of the trio
valiantly in the spot where he had
| just slowed two sandwiches. This
won him Immediately a place among
the elect.
But there was still McNulty. Nc
| Nulty declared that the recruit had
+, no business to be named Lawrence.
F, An Office boy ought to be Bill or Jim
! or Mike, but anyhow, he would give
: him one chance to run an errand and
: see if there was anything in him.
j McNulty's typewriter desk had been
out of order for a week Ii couldn't
| be made to open when it was shut,
| and if you ever got it open you could
never shut it again Now, the Blank
| building is a rambling old place, in
whose lofty. well-kept corridors there
| is usually to be found a cheerful Hi
bernian with rag busting up and
! polishing things. Hence, when Nc
! Nulty summoned the recruit and
pointed to his broken desk with a
casual, "G'wan down and tell Paul
Morton to come up here and fix this
desk right away. I'm tired of havin'
1t on the bum" the urchin cbediently
| hustled out into the hall to see if he
could find blue -jumpered servitor an
swering to the name Of Paul.
There was none on that floor, so
Lawrence skipped into the elevator
+, going down."
We'll, kid" said Pleasant Pat, the
runner, you're a new wan here, hey?
, Where We goin'?"
'I'm lookin' fer Paul Morton-know
where he is?"
Gorrah, ye're fresh little mug
We are. Just for that I'll put you off
at the second-that's Paul Morton S
foor-and We can walk up, or down,
or wherever we're goin'." And Pat
suited the action to the words with
a muscular slam of the gate.
But Lawrence, being dead in earn.
est, and not seeing any blue jumpers
on this floor either, was beginning to
feel discouraged when he caught sight
of a large person upholstered in a
beautiful uniform who looked as If he
ought to know where everybody was.
Have you seen Paul Morton
around this floor lately?" began Law.
renee. insinuatingly. I'm trying to
find i'm
The Large Persons eyes remained
stonily fixed upon the region of Law
rence's cowlick
Sure. Him and me was just stand.
in here minute ago talkin to Teddy
Roosevelt and John ID. Rockefeller
Was they expectin' you?"
!, Jaw, quit yer kiddin I'm in a
hurry. If you see him, send him up
stairs to Room Umpty-two They want
him to fix desk up there-McNulty s
desk-it's been busted for week and
they want him quick, see?"
() " " +" " .