The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-29
EOening Story
The Office Boy Interferes.
BY FRANK H. WILLIAMS.


been just as she had made it in an
idle moment-a very rough layout for
the ground floor plan of the sort OF
home she hoped to have some day
There had been a big kitchen,
| lovely Yeranada a living room with
that was all her heart could desire.
That was the way the sketch had
| looked when she left it there on
| the desk before gLing to lunch with
some of the other girls in the office.
But now the sketch looked entirely
different Some one had been tam
| pering with it in her absence In
place of the living room beinS la
beled Giving room as she had left
it, this room now bore the label
| billiard room and dem" Aud in
place of the kitchen being big and
fine the way she had sketched it,
the kitchen had now been divided in
half, with one-half Of the room
labeled home brew department"
At first E6nas bright eyes spar
killed. angrily at this dissertation of
her work. Then the humor of the
situation appealed to her ana she
smiled. Whoever the individual was
who had done things to her draw
| ing, he was, at ieast,-a humorist and
she felt that he would be man worth
Edna gazed around the office
covertly. Certainly the man was
not the baldheaded bookkeeper, who
| had a wife and five children and who
was never known to smile. And GER
| tainly it wasn't Royal Menefee, her
| immediate chief. Royal hardly was
clever enough to think up anything of
! this sort. But if it was neither of
| these two-who was it?
Rather puzzled over the situation
Edna called little Red" Brown. the
| office boy, to her.
Red" she said. who was at my
desk this noon?"
Edna saw Red look at her and then
grin slyly. She saw look of mis-
chief come into his eyes.
why the big boss was in here!'
The big boss! That was young
| Harry Schlatter, handsome. I'M
married and wealthy. Yes, thought
| Edna, it would be just like him to do
an impulsive, humorous thing like
altering her sketch which she had
| labeled "Plan of My Future Home"
She thought of the twinkle in his
eyes and his generally happy dispo-
| sition. thrill came to her Why,
any girl might feel flattered at such
| attention being paid to anything she
| had done.
"He was in here and did some
thing on your desk. 1 saw him just
| before 1 went out" continued Red
THANKS, Red" said Edna, trying
vainly to keep the thrill out of her
voice. "Of course, anything that
Mr.. Schlatter does is perfectly all
right"
"Of course!" mimicked Red, and
then hurried away before Edna could
say anything further.
Several times during the afternoon
| Edna gazed at the altered plan of
the house. She wanted to do some
| thing about it and yet she was half
afraid attenOt ANYTHING
Edna determined to do something
| to show Mr.. Schlatter that she knew
he was the guilty party and to get
| back at him for the thing he had
done.
But how could she do this? What
could she do?
During the early part of the after
| noon she. would go to Mr.. .Schlatter's
office to present him with a report
from her department. That would be
her opportunity. What could she do !?
At last after puzzling over the mat
ter for considerable length of time
an inspiration came to Edna. She
| drew the sketch to her and rapidly
J made some alterations on it in pencil
When she had finished, there was a
| tiny little cubby-hole off the living
room labeled den" the home brew
department and the billiard room had
been partly erased, altho the words
were still partly visible, and a big adj
/ dition had been made to the plan,
| this addition containing a number of
rooms and being labeled Rooms in
which to entertain my mother and
! her family"
Then with sparkling eyes and rosy
cheeks. Edna placed, this sketch be-
meath the report for Mr.. Schlatter and
marched into his office.
The big young chief turned in his
| chair at her approach and smiled
rather abstractedly at her. Then Edna
| saw his eyes focus on her face and
saw a look of interest come into them.
Again she felt thrilled.
"Why, Miss Fairchild,' he ex-
| claimed, whats the excitement? You
look much agitated about some
thing"
/ IT am excited" exclaimed Edna,
almost at a loss what to say. CT
For a moment she thought of re-
ferring to the sketch. Then she
thought better of it and, laying the
report and the sketch on Schlatter's
| desk, she turned and hurried from the
room.
Back at her own desk, Edna won
dered anxiously if she had been too
| bold. One moment she decided that
| she had and she felt like leaving the
office at once, never to return. The
next instant she decided that the thing
| she had done was not at all out of
the way. But whichever way she felt
about it, her excitement grew. She
/ felt, altho she told herself she was
utterly foolish, as tho something ire
mendous was going to happen.
And it was then, toward the end of
the afternoon. that something did
happen. But it was not at all the sort
of a thing that Edna expected.
| The way it happened was like this:
Edna, busy at her work, felt hand
on her shoulder. She turned to find
Red grinning at her.
SAY" said Red. ST saw how eX-
cited you were when I said the big
boss changed the plans of your house.
Well, he didn't. 1 did. This nooni"
And with shout of glee Red sour
| ried from the room.
Edna gazed after him for a mo-
| ment in dfsmay. Then as the full
meaning of Reds words swept over
her, she dropped her head on her
arms and began weeping. The little
| romance she had built up so quickly
| was broken to bits. There was moth