The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1919-08-13
THE MAJORS AIDE
BY MARIE MCDONALD.

The buzzer sounded in the general
stcnographic room and the arrow
dropped to No. rs.
miss Greedy, take that assignment
to Major Watson" called the chief
stenographer. And as further instruc-
lions: IF it's the major himself, Miss
Greedy, be very careful. He's fast
dictator; but for your sake hope It's
his aide"
For Dorothy Greedy was a new
stenographer. and the chief was aware
of the fact that new stenographers are
timid. This stenographer was no ex-
ception to the rule, and her race
blanched bit as she reached into her
top drawer for her notebook and PEN
Gil. How she hoped 1t would be the
aide, whom all the girls liked so Welt
"Room III 3d." the colored messen-
ger had told her. and she went hunting
for 1t. BY the time she was at ID BIT
she was shivering and pale, and wish
ing sincerely that she had never left
her snug little home In Ohio to come
to Washington, just to show certain
folks that she could earn her own liv-
ing. She wasn't so sure now that she
didn't want 1t earned for her.
| III $751; She took a deep breath;
then she tossed her head In the air and
walked into the Office with the air Of
an experienced worker. Her attempt
at calmness succeeded well as she
placed a chair beside Major Watson's
desk, sat down, crossed her knees and
poised her notebook In readiness on
her upper knee.
And then 1t began. Major Watson
dictated-heavens, how he dictatedl
Poor Dorothy's hand flew across line
after line, writing mechanically. for
her brain refused to think anything
but q maddening round of "WOnder II
I can read it-wonder If / can read
itf
She did not realize II was over until
the major said. 81 told you that will
be ALL" "Oh-er, all right" she STAN
mered, and rose. So back to the general
stenographic room she went, for trans
cription. When she opened her note
book terrible sight met her eyes.
There was a tumble Of meaningless
scrawls, chaos of feverish strokes.
Duly she took out paper and carbon,
arranged 1t and placed 1t in her ma
chine. Then started the transcription
slow. nerve-racking transcription,
which took all Dorothy's power Of
memory and all her intuitive clever
ness to exc out the meaning Of the
hideous notes. But the transcription
gradually grew and her courage began
TO return as she found her work be-
coming a little more consecutive and
legible.
The minutes passed, and the hours,
and when the fourth hour came she
was just starting the fifteenth sheet.
with only another page Of notes to be
Transcribed. She breathed sigh Of
relief as she inserted the paper in her
typewriter and looked once more at
the notebook to study out the next
few words.
Twice she looked, and then again,
while her forehead wrinkled In little
perplexed frown. For fully ten min
utes Dorothy studied the outline and
those around II. but no inspiration
came. It was hopeless.
miss Wheeler" she whispered.
Miss Wheeler was the girl at her left
rather pleasant-looking girl to be
sure, but Dorothy did not relish her
task of confiding in her. However,
Miss Wheeler's smile made 1t easier,
and Dorothy whispered: II can't read
this phrase in Major Watson's dicta-
tion."
"What system do you write?" Miss
Wheeler asked. But the name of the
system was unknown to Miss Wheeler
and there was no hope. Miss Wheeler
had been a new stenographer herself.
however, but couple of months be-
fore, and she remembered her first ex-
perience with Major Watson's dicta-
ton, and she was sympathetic. Tell
you what you can do" she said at last.
"You go in to his aide, the lieutenant
In the next room. and read to him
what goes before that. All Major Wat
sons work goes through him. and he
would probably know just what the
major said there, or at least would
give pretty good substitute"
"But that would be terrible thing
to do, wouldn't it?-tell the aide that ]
can't read my notesT'
Heavens. mol" Miss Wheeler as
sured her. '"rhe poor fellow is used to
it by now. Every new stenographer
goes In to him with her first dictation
from the major. / don't believe there
is one girl here who hasn't had him
help her with her notes at least once.
Go ahead-he's fine fellow and will
be just as courteous as can be TO YOU"
So Dorothy went, slowly, tremulous-
ly, to ii $40, and opened the door. Her
eyes were on her notebook and her
cheeks little red with embarrass-
ment. She walked to the desk. "Could
you-er-" She raised her eyes to the
lieutenant's face and met his staring
into hers.