The Lamar register., 1922-02-01

friends with everybody about here.
janitor and office boy included"
What is her peculiar province, may
i askf" submitted the son. studying
the young lady in question through the
open office doorway.
Unaffected and steadfast pleasant
ness on all occasions" came the
prompt reply. "She is what you may
call smiling through girl. When
she came here 1t was dull place, with
many little chickering's and jealousies
There was discomfort and lack of
harmony. Miss Dale, put In charge Of
the help, simply began to cOddle,
cheer. comfort and coax the indiffer-
ent and dissatisfied girls. She planned
new kind of luncheon hour for all
hands. She made herself familiar
with the worries and troubles. home
and office, of the others. She began
a smiling system that soon did away
with wry faces. Just glance over the
group and observe how scrupulously
neat and ladylike they all are, and
how with their cheerful faces they
make 1t pleasant for an utter stranger
to enter the office"
"Yes, there is certainly a change
since i was here six months ago." ad-
mitted Rawson. Young. popular and,
suppose, happy home back of 1t all,
making the general environment of
Miss Dale ideal"
You never were more mistaken In
your life." replied Mr.. Pike, 81 looked
the girl up In a general way. and learn
ed quite the contrary. She has an
Idle, dissolute father, and the entire
home care of two little children.
There is no mother and they live very
poorly. for the father dissipates all
he can get hold of. For all their own
narrowness Of living sphere, however,
Miss Dale finds time to engage in COM
munity welfare work In the vicinity
Of her home. A grand girl, Rawson.
and when you take charge here don't
spoil her."
"Why should 1? How can IT. chal.
lenged Rawson, quite unconcernedly.
He had been an INDUCED son, and In
a measure II had made him selfish and
Indifferent as to any burdensome In
terest In others. His glance still
sought that attractive face in the next
room. however. and IL he had con
fessed the truth he would have &C.
knowledged that Miss Dale was quite
charming and worthy of admiration.
Sooner than either father or son
had anticipated. Rawson Pike was
compelled to assume his fathers place
The latter became seriously Ill and
II was necessary to send him to an
other climate. II was a bad time to
spare the old man. Business trou-
bles had arisen and Rawson found
himself burdened with complications
he had never dreamed of. The en-
ployees and the general public knew
that this was the case and affairs were
not what they had been. There were
some days of uneasiness and gloom.
but Linda like the true business wom-
an she was. sought an interview with
the young man. She had been trusted
by his father with a thorough knowi-
edge Of the business, and this proved
saving clause In decidedly desper
ate condition of affairs.
"Mr Pike" she said. there is less
call for being frightened or discour.
aged than for the use of grit, perse-
verance and cheerfulness. We must
not wear sad faces or allow competi.
tors to guess that we are in financial
trouble. have a schedule of our
affairs all made out for your inspec-
tion, and will work day and night
to carry out plan to tide over the
present crisis"
Rawson woke up. So clear. so prac-
teal. 50 optimistic was Linda that the
situation now presented gave every
encouragement for hope and finally
weathering the storm. Linda had a
long talk with the employees. The
last one of them agreed to smile their
way through" and the Pike office pre-
sented to anxious creditors and sus-
picious business rivals the semblance
of a place where everything was GO
ing on prosperously. Linda's knowl-
edge and advice proved of inestimable
value to Rawson Pike. At times he
could scarcely repress his admiration,
gratitude and increasing liking to-
wards her.