The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-02-05
THE LITTLE DUTcHMAN.

fair-Sklnned, White-haired boy, with a
wide mouth, blue eyes, high forehead,
dressed, moreover in a style that gave
him the appearance of being a little
old man rather than young boy;
with a fiat green cap, short blue
jacket, long black vest and wide,
shapeless trousers. And they called
him .The Little SDutchman.'
Being at once the youngest and the
smallest in the Office, diffident and
yielding, a stranger, it is not strange
he was the office drudge, and an OBJ
ject of, amusement and tderision.
1t mattered very little. that he was
willing and obliging-was he not a
Dutchman?
So thought the. boys of one to whom
accident of birth had denied a ma
tive. accent, as they laughed immod-
erately at his broken English.
Now, it happened one day that Her
mann, busily engaged in filing away
letters near the door of the manager
room, overheard this conversation.
Mr.. Rule" said the manager.
Sir" answered the clerk.
Here is a telegram that must go
at once. See that it is copied, and
taken. to the Office without delay
Eyes, sir.''izEc.3 s~Eg ~zsr~ ~at+
"Be sure that it goes promptly. 1t
is very important"
ut shall be sent Immediately"
But far be it from the dignity of a
chief clerk to perform the service of
this kind where there are interiors to
be commanded.
CHANGING around, his eye fell upon
an aspiring youth who was bending
his whole energies and mighty tai
ents to the execution of comic pic.
ture upon a piece of blotting paper.
Here, Chester" exclaimed the chief
clerk, in perenptory tone, copy
this telegram and send it right away
Don't wait a minute"
Thus abruptly disturbed in his alb
sorbing occupation, the aspiring youth
took the piece OF paper with a fiery
impulse to throw it back in the chief
clerks face, but thinking better of it
he suddenly arose and proceeded to
take an impression from it in CODY.
book with an iron press.
While slowly and unwiIlingly per-
forming his duty, another and a
younger boy, returning from an err
rand, came near,
Here, Tom," said the aspiring
youth in his turn, take this telegram
to the office"
why don't you take it yourself?'
returned Tom.
Because I'm busy. Hurry up, now;
there's no time to lose''
Not less did the younger boy resent
1.-THE elders staggering assumption OF
authority than had the elder, that OF
the chief clerk. Wherefore he DELHI.
erately took off his hat, sat down be.
fore his desk and coolly said: 'Who
was your servant last year?" Z
The chief clerk had already re,
turned to his desk at the other end OF
the Office, and paid no attention to this
interesting conversation. But the as
piring youth, still ranking with the
thought of the superior manner in
which the chief clerk had addressed
him, and still further enraged to see
that his own authority was not re.
spected, slapped the telegram down
on the desk before the other boy, and
exclaimed:
you'll take that to the office or
I'll know the reason why
"You were told to take it, and you'd
better do it." retorted the younger
boy
WELL, I've got something else to
do" THE tail of the monkey in the
comic picture was not yet finished)
land / tell you to do it,
At this moment the clock struck IL
Work stopped las if by magic. Office
boys and clerks disappeared as il
drawn by magnet, the magnet OF
dinner.
Even the chief clerk vanished, and
the disputants, without coming to any
definite conclusion, passed out to
gether, wrangling as they went, and
left the important message on the
desk =
And there Hermann q few minutes
afterward found 1t.
Z Hermann was too ignorant and
"green,'-the boys would have said
| to carry the message to the manager
who was stin IN his private Office, and
doubtless supposed that the telegram
had been sent long ago; he was toe
conscientious to ignore it, Had he not