The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-01-29
Epening Story
Ciose-Fisted Hery.
By H. LOUIS RAYBoLD.

ST say. Blake" said Jones. OPEN
ing his ledger with a bang, did you
get on TO that tightwad Henry loos-
enine up to the extent of half a dol
lar for that fund our amiable Flossie
Is collecting for some hard-up
friend?"
II should say I did" exploded
Blake land she's the last one you
might expect to worm anything out or
him. why, I've actually been sorry
she goes at him with that sharp
tongue of hers"
"WeIl, she'll get hers some days"
grumbled Jones.N But them. he
added, his face shrouded in gloom, 1t
looks as If we all would for that mat
ter. This particular concern is on the
blink, my son."
Jaw, you're forever taking the JOY
out of life," retorted Blake. II fancy
the firm will last out your time and
mine. just as it did our great grand
At that moment the door opened
and Henry Simmons entered putting
stop to further conversation concern
ing him.
Henry Simmons was the least i'm
portant member of the firm of Bal
lou G. Ballou, Exporters and Import
ers. Above him in salary ranked
Blake and Jones; above him in i'm
portance ranked the heads of the
company-and Flossie, the stenogra-
pher. Yes, he was utterly insignifi-
cant. This morning as he softly and
unobtrusively entered and made his
ner no one would have glanced twice
at his short, meekly carried person,
cheaply CARRIED in an ill-fitting suit.
Yet it was not his looks nor his in
significance that his fellow clerks
held against him. 1t was what they
fcv- u 1t
in the long years they had associated
had they been able to persuade him to
join them in a little spree of any kind,
innocuOus enough but involving the
spending of a few paltry dollars. New
| er had he blown them to a meal or
fruit for the boss's wife when she
| went abroad. No, Henry was a sure
enough tightwad.
But then, what was he getting out
| of life? That was a remark they liked
| to make to each other as, rolling along
home in Blake's mostly paia for car
| they passed Henry, patiently waiting
| on the corner for his trolley car.
Small wonder,then, that his recent
| contribution to Flossie had caused
| comment. Flossie was the oldest in:
| stitution in the office, antedating ever
| the present members, of the firm
| themselves, who had inherited hel
from their predecessors as a young
| thing fresh from high school and q
| correspondence course in typewriting
| She was most cordially mated by Blake
| and Jones. whom she treated as less
| than the dust beneath her feet, and
presumably, by Henry,-on whom she
practiced her caustic wit
1t must be confessed that she never
seemed to bother Henry. Apparently
he was to all intents and purposes un.
aware of her existence, giving out hi:
dictation, receiving the results, ap.
l proving them and handing them bacl
/ with never an unnecessary word OF
| glance. All business was Henry.
| But to Blake and Jones her methods
| were calling in the extreme, and hei
| accusing eyes, bent on them as they
| suspended work in the interests OF
conversation or some diversion like
| the hosting of a safe to a window OF
the building opposite, irritated them
exceedingly. They would have liked o
| fluffy ruffles in the office, easier tC
look upon than the snarp featured
| Flossie and more susceptible to theil
| charms.
Now it might be supposed that e
business as old as Ballou & Ballol
| would continue indefinitely. 1t Ger.
tainly never occurred to Blake, who
| had just drawn his entire savings tC
meet large garage bill. to expec'
| otherwise, nor to Jones, who had nc
| savings ACCOUNT at all
| Even Flossie, when the blow fell and
she heard that the last pay checi
would be made out at the end of the
week, turned quite white, thus eX-
lhibiting the first inkling of emotion
Ishe had ever shown. Henry, the i'm
Ipertunbable, merely lifted his eyes tC
the announcement, then bent them to
his columns. Poor Henry, He didn't
have the sort of personality which
icombined with disappearing hair and
the stamp of forty-odd years on his
Icountenance. would recommend him to
tanother position.
What you going to do. Hen ?'' Blake
Iasked later. curious1y. Were all in
a tight box, I guess, except Flossie
there. I'll bet she's been saving heI
lshekels and has a nice tidy little sum
lin the bank" -
"Tidy little sum yourself.f retorteo
FIossie. She was perfectly aware al
1.-The poor showing she would make in
lcompetition with the hordes of bust
lness college graduates flooding the
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