Evening star., 1918-05-19

kiddin' him along by askin' for a
brand I'd made up
Then he should have had sense
enough to know it," says the boss.
Here, you! Show the gentleman tia:
Spencer ratchet. There. right under
your nose. you numbskull!"
Course that was kind of raw stuff TO
pull right before customer, and /
felt sort of mean about lettin' the
poor fish in for 1t. When the big gent
had drifted back to the office. l says
as much. too.
"Oh. that's nothing" saws the clerk.
1T would have been something or
other, anyhow. That's what l get
right along. It's what I've always
got-always will. l expect. I'm used
Must be in love with YOUR Job.
then says l.
Say" says he. leanin' over the
counter and whisperin' hoarse. I'll
tell you something. There's only one
thing in the world l hate worse'n my
job. That's old man Spratt.''
Then if I was you I'd Quit EN-
both" says l.
"Oh. would you?" says he
With that he goes on dofn' up the
parcels. When he comes back with
the change for ten he seems to
if my place amt too far away he'll
bring the things around when he
goes out to lunch AS 1 was bound
for chop-house myself. I gave him
the number and said he might
When l got back to the studio
for me with the goods.
II been thinkin' of what you said
about quittin'." says he.
"Ye-e-e-es?" says !.
and I got good mind to do it.
too" he goes on.
What a reckless daredevil you
are" says I. "Accordin' to your own
account, you've stood Spratt's rough
stuff for years. never dreamin' Of
cuttin' loose until some stranger
Come"
II amt bettin' man." says he.
ddroppin' his chin and shufiin' his
And say. come TO size him up close.
men as you'd run across. 1t shows
in his face. in the way his shoulders
slump. in the nervous trick he has
of twiddlin' his fingers when he talks.
II see" says l. The main thing
about your boss. Eh? Well. seein'
how l helped pull down this last
blast. I guess l can stretch the willin'
ear for few minutes. Go on. Works
out his disposition on you. does he?"
ALL SO uQCH WHAT lie says,
grumb1es the gent; "it's the way he
LOOKS at me, like I was a yellow dog
he wanted to kick into the corner.
Why, there's times when he don't
speak to me for days at a stretch.
And only him and me left in the
store now. There used to be five or
six of us-more than that when I
first came: but since the neighbor-
hood has changed so much business
has fallen off. and they've been let
60. one by one"
"You managed to stick. though" l
suggests.
Because I got the lowest pay Of
any" says he, land did the most work.
Besides 1 was the one he could al
ways cuss out when he felt like it.
He didn't begin that until after 1 got
and he thought / wouldn't
dare leave on account of the wife.
That's the kind he is-a big-mouthed
bully"
"Oh. come" says I. "spratt didn't
strike me as bad as all that
You don't know him." says the
clerk. Hes mean clear through.
And he thinks he's So much better
than 1 am. Treats me like 1 was
dirt under his feet. Why? Tell me
that, will you? Because he's my boss
and I'm only hired help? Or just be-
cause he's got more money than I
have? Say, if it hadn't been for a
little slip-up. years ago, it might
have been the other way round. Yes,
sir. I might have had enough to buy
and sell old Spratt four times over"