The Monticellonian., 1916-06-01

] star department store ads, in the daily | papers had been full of 1t. Girls from i the stores going home at night had ] discussed it According to some 1t was grand and perfectly elegant for 1 those swell girls to do it. , To oth- | CTS, more critical, it was either case of wanting to get into print by doing something out of the way or delib- crate scheme to rob the poor girl who 1 needed work for her daily bread.
 To Hilbert Frozenstar, junior part ner of the dry goods firm of Frozen i star Brothers & Co, it had still diff ferent significance. It was part of l his carefully laid plan to make an 1 entrance into the hitherto closed DOT l tals of the city's most exclusive cir i cles
 The proposition was this: The so- 1 ciety women in question were to en- 1 joy all the realism of the task. They 1 were to punch the time clock with l the other thousand employees of the store They were to be allowed to sell l goods in whatever department they chose, and for their sales they were i to receive a 9 per cent commission for their favorite charity.
 The scheme worked better than he had expected, and on a certain Mon- day morning in late winter the ranks i of ten of the largest departments in the store were increased by the pres enee of ten new employees.
 l In the neckwear department was the debutante, Wilhelmina Sedgwick. In the millinery department young Mrs. Sturtevant Shawger floated around in new bouffant morning cos tune especially imported for the un- dertaking from war-ridden Paris In the blouse department, was the be- earringed Mrs Tom Bradgley, who was great drawing card because of the rather pfquant details of her re- cent divorce proceedings.
 Most attractive of all. was Corinne Delaeroix, at least from Filbert's per sonal viewpoint. She had chosen the more arduous task of selling furniture because. as she argued. furniture was more expensive even than French mil linery, and 9 per cent of her sales there might really be worth while.
 Although Corinne herself was not especially we'll known-indeed she had made her debut only few weeks before-as far as family and fortune went she was the most valuable ac quisition of them all
 This debutante saleswoman. simply clad in neat little froek of black, guiltless of single ornament save for the brilliant sash she wore across her slender body was "on the floor" ahead of time that first morning and Hall Bingley, head of the department, was giving her instructions about her work when Frozenstar appeared He had intended to get there in time to explain to Miss Delaeroix in person just what her duties were to be.
 Bingley stepped aside with just the right manifestation of deference and courtesy at the arrival of Frozenstar, who introduced himself with an air of studied cemposure to the attSactive young girl.
 Of course, thought he, it was ab- surd for him to be jealous of man like Bingley, who, in the eyes of ] Corinne, was probably no more than butler or footman. That she had been talking with apparent ease to him and that she spoke to him again frequently during the day, was noth- ing to irritate Frozenstar.
 Still the irritating thing about it was that he was decidedly ruffled and l that as the hours passed he became more and more so. At the end of the first day. he positively detested Bing ley
 Delightful little woman that she was, Frozenstar noticed that Corinne treated him with something more than frigid formality. She told him more than once that she admired the spirit of philanthropy that had prompted him and she actually asked him to act as patron for a post-Lenten charity bazaar. This would mean check for several hundred dollars, but Frozen star accepted eagerly. She really was delightful, charming, bewitchng
 And her sales were phenomenal Corinne's commissions amounted to an amazingly large figure, larger by far than those of any other one of the society salesWomen.' What a pleasure it would be, thought Frozen star to hand that check to Miss Della croix. He would take it in person to her. She would surely allow him to call some afternoon after the selling venture was over.
 Just as he was meditating this in his private office, the advertising manager slouched into the room.
 Have you heard the news?' he asked One of the men from the Morning Post just told me. But of course it isn't going to get into print That would never do. That Corinne Delacroix you thought you had up in the furniture department is really loafing in seclusion at her fathers place at Palm Beach. You see, she thought it wasn't fair to rob some girl of a job yet she didn't want to miss getting the commissions for charity So she got hold of pretty little salesgirl who needed work and got her to take the place. She happened to know a guy in your store, too. en- gagged to him. think and so she came around in Corinne's place and arranged to be in the department of this man she is going to marry. Of course. no one is any the wiser ex- cept a few of us that heard the story