The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1922-09-21
THE DAILY
SHORT. sTOR
Two Misfits and A Gentle
Blackmailer
By Il. IRVING KING

Henry j. Cummings and Mar
saret P. Smith were both engaged
n the honorable and fairly lucra-
tive occupation Of pounding type.
writer's for a living. Margaret was
lstar at Il She could take dlcta.
ton as fast as any man could talk
and talk sanely; she spelled cor
rectly and punctuated TO perfec-
don. The most unusual word had
no terror for her. To see her
shapely fingers go tripping over
the keys was a positive delight
Furthermore. she did not chew
gum In working hours, alwayG
looked as sp!ck and span as II she
mad Just come out Of bandbox.
and had a face both pretty and
lntelligent-a pleasing combine
AS for Henry, while a clever
youth In many ways, good-looking
and stalwart, he had drifted into
the wrong pew as the saying Is.
Young men typists are, | know,
not so very common nowadays;
hut they may be found now and
then In conservative business
houses where a beetle-browed,
erusty old fogy OF a senior partner
but II was evident that he would
With prehistoric conception Of
swoman's sphere" holds sway-as
was the case In the mercantile
Mouse Of Hobson & Co. Yes, Henry
was employed by Hobson & Co.
not be tor long. In taking the
8dietation Of ordinary business let
tiers eyen-about all he had to do
the chatter OF his machine was
constantly interrupted while Hen.
~ asked: What was that last?"
How do you spell that word?" or
u did not catch that"
Henryts typewriting was the
handwriting on the wall that fore.
bodied his dismissal. And he did
want 10 keep that job, too; for he
had conceived the idea OF marry.
Ing Margaret II she would have
him; and Margaret had conceived
the idea Of marrying Henry II he
should ask her. These two hard.
working and estlmable young PEG.
pie were dwellors in the suburbs
and took the same train in to bust.
ness in the morning-frequently the
same one home at night. That is
how they came to establish that
propinquity which is Of such help
in swelling the marriage statistics.
Henry soon got to calling upon
Margaret at her paternal cottage
and to sitting with her OF summer
nights on the paternal piazza where,
gazing out over the dreamy, mist.
flooded meadows where the sifted
moonlight fell, and consuming
large quantities Of ice cream from
the village store, they passed many
, bltssful hour. And one evening
Henry spoke. And Margaret said
"Yes." Margaret was employed in
Mrs. Pettigrew's establishment
one Of those big typewritiug places
where many girls at many machines
click away all day long copying doc.
,1lntents or taking dictation from
men who rush in. speak their little
piece, grab up the typewriter re-.
suits, pay their money and rush
out.
There was one patron Of Mrs.
Rettgrew's establishment who al.
ways selected Margaret as his
lsmanuensis, man about forty,
evidently a most prosperous per.
son, and he was writing a novel,
Also he tried his hand at short.
stories. Sometimes he dictated
from notes, sometimes "out Of his
head" From a literary point of
view the results were equally dis.
astrous. Margaret never knew
whatshis real name was-he had a
'pen name" Vahtek, which he
placed at the head OF his stories,
Henry knew about "Mr. vahtek";