The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1918-02-14
Spug for a
Day
~
BY James Osborn
BY James Osborn

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CcspyrtEhI Mcclure Newspaper syndicatSD
ClaFice Wnrdham and Nancy Smith
had gone through high school together
and their friendship was of the sort
that could not be altered, even when
Nancy went to business school and
later t0Ok a stenOgrapher's position In
a business Office, and Clarice, through
her father's acquired fortune, became
one Of the most sought after young
. women In what chose to be called, and
was called Society, with a capital S.
Clarice did not give Nancy her old
dresses, nor did she try to persuade
her to attend the parties she gave, to
which only folk with very much more
money 10 spend than Nancy had were
invited. When she asked Nancy to her
house Il was either to enjoy her alone
or with a few of the old friends with
whom Nancy could be most at her
ease. Thus Nancy was never made
conscious of the fact that fortune had
dealt less kindly with her than it had
with Clarice, If indeed 1t really had.
When Clarice first met Robert Har-
row and somehow unwittingly charmed
and then captivated that inveterate
man of business, she did not tell him
that Nancy Smith, his private secre-
tHry, was one of her best friends. 1t
was not in the least because she was
hn nf han n,,k "a
cause she liked the idea of having a
means of seeing Mr.. Harrow from an
other angle than that of society and
country club activities without his
knowing it. Clarice, truth to say, was
drawn to Harrow almost as soon as he
was to her, for there was something
about this rather rough strange mix
ture Of man that charmed women
quite as much as If he had been most
courteous and cOurtly. Sometimes he
seemed the broadcast Of men in his
large grasp of events that Clarice dis
Cussed with him, and sometimes the
narrOweSt in his point of view, that
seemed to see only his own business
interests. Sometimes he seemed the
most generous and unselfish, and then
the least generous and most selfish.
Drawn though Clarice was to this
much discussed and almost eccentric
young man, she planned to surrender,
If she surrendered at all, with deliber-
alton. She had planned not to lose q
single trick in the love game she was
about to play with this man, who had
become accustomed to having things
generally his own way in the other
games of life.
1t has been said that mans stem
Ographer has an opportunity to know
him even better than his own wife, for
she sees him more hours of the day
usually, and can study him without
personal prejudice of any sort. Nancy
Smith surely knew Robert Harrow bet.
ter than he knew himself, and 1t was
perhaps not strange that she suspected
he was in love before he was willing
to admit that fact to himself, much
less to Clarice. She had heard from
Clarice of the friendship that had
sprung up between her and Mr.. Har.
row, and with infinite care sounded
her regarding him and so found out
how the ground lay.
Once Clarice. with an attempt al
seeming casual, asked Nancy what
sort of husband she thought Mr.
Harrow would make.
II could be his stenographer all my
life and enjoy it." explained Nancy
"but I could never endure him as q
husband. But with a girl like you, II
would he different. You would col
lapse after day in his office; but with
all the little feminine witcheries tC
fall back on you, or girl like you,
should say. might find him perfect
husband"
zone thing Mr.. Harrow's wife would
have to remember, though" added
Nancy, "and that is that she should
never once let him take her for grant
ed. 1t would be like tanning a lion
once the beast knows his power, the
tanner is lost. Some women are cut
out for Just that sort of thing, you
know, and never In lifetime let theil
husbands know what meek, tame
hearts they have"
Nancy and Clarice thus discussed
Mr.. Harrow over the chocolate cups
one day at luncheon, late in December
when CIarice had gone downtown fol
Christmas shopping.
That afternoon Harrow gave the
switchboard operator gruff orders tc
the effect that he was ''too busy to be
disturbed" and then sat at his desk
with no one but Nancy sharing his
solitude, looking blankly into space fol
q full hour, his head bent and his arms
akimbo. He started to his feet wheI
he reused himself and paced the fiool
impatiently.
"Take this" he threw at Nancy
"NIemo for the cashiers ofiice-'Ow'