The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1917-08-18
TAKING DICTATION
By EARL REED siLVERs.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Mr.. Francis vreeland, head Of th
firm Of Yreeland & Co.. gazed frowr
ingiy at the typed letter he held, an
decided that 1t was a failure. Unde
ordinary circumstances, Mr.. Vreelan
would have wrathfully summoned hi
stenographer, demanded to know wha
business agency had the audactty {
thrust such an example Of inefi1cienc
upon vreeland & Co., and then woul,
have told the aforesaid example. kind
~ but firmly. that her services were n
longer required.
But Mr.. vreelan1 did nothing Of tn
kind. Instead, he set himself befor,
his own glittering machine, insertet
one Of the firms letterheads. ant
copied the letter he had dictated bu
an hour before. The changes HAVING
been made. he signed his name ant
pushed button on his desk.
Miss Betty Baxter entered the room
and instantly the sun seemed to shin.
more brightly. In direct defiance Of tht
rules Of business etiquette, Betty wor>
q white dress, with frills ct the cum
and lace at the neck. Her eolden hal,
was drawn back. but not because Betty
had any desire to appear buanesslike
It happened to be the style most BE-
coming to her. She wore white sill
stockings and white kid pumps: and
when Mr.. Francis vreeland's eyes
rested upon her. his heart beat . lively
tattoo beneath his manly bosom.
The head Of the firm Of vreeland 4
Co. was really too young to direct
the fortunes Of so prosperous q con.
Germ. he was twenty-eight, to be ex-
act, and II the business had not been
inherited from Woodworking father.
he would probably have been laboring
his heart away IN q downtown ONCE
for Q salary Of something like thirty
dollars a week. But Francis, as his
many friends called him, was one Of
those men who have greatness thrust
upon them: and 20 he was the big boss
In big arm. with an income Of some
thing like thirty thousand dollars q
year.
And Betty Baxter was pretty. a good
dancer, an excellent tennis player and
q swimmer Of more than local renown.
But she was a poor stenographer.
The fact that Betty even attempted
is story in itself. Two
years before the Baxters and the vree-
lands had lived side by side in one Of
New Jerseys most exclusive suburbs.
Betty drove her own car to meet her
father at the railroad station. and in
he evening Mr.. Baxter and Mr.. vree-
and. ST., sat on the porch Of the Bax-
Ter home and discussed stocks and
ponds. while Miss Baxter and Mr..
rreeland, Jr., wandered of around the
,orneP.
And then something had happened
which swept away the Baxter fortune
Is If 1t had been mere chicken house
n the path Of the Johnstown flood.
eaving the father crushed and pur-
useless and the daughter stunned with
he realization Of sudden poverty.
francis had asked her to mary him
hen.
"You are only asking me out Of
'ity," she had said. IL must find
omething to do"
So she had gone to business school
which promised to teach in three
1onths what other schools teach in a
ear, and. having been duly graduated.
he was given a position in a Wall
treet office. The next day she was dis
harged. In the evening Of that same
ay. Francis decided that his business
ad grown so much that he needed a
ersonal stenographer, and Betty ac-
epted the position.
And so she was rather surprised
hen Mr.. Francis Vreeland, having re-
ped her latest letter, frowned threat
ningly upon her as she took her &C
lstomed place beside his desk.
Betty" he said, after a long wait
DO you like your work. +
"Of course I d." she answered.
"Why:"
"Why are you putting me through
Re third degree?" she asked.
Il just want some information"
rancis leaned forward and tapped on
le desk with his pencil. Elbow would
~ like to have another job?"
DO you mean that I haven't done
'tisfactory work here?"
"YeS."
Francis spoke rather severely, and
e girl before him did not see the
'tnkle which lay half hidden in his
'es. She caught her breath sharply.
"I'll 60 now" she said simply. 4
mo, wait minute" Francis held up
s hand. Lets be perfectly frank,
city," he continued. "As a stenog-
pher you're mighty pretty girl, but s
a mighty pretty girl you're failure :
stenographer. You weren't meant
take dictation. were you, dearY
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