The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-08-06
By Charles G. Norris.
CHAPTER I.

p" E offices of Baldwin &
Lansing were humming
~ with noisy activity. A
group of impatient clients leaned
against the barricading coun-
ter, waiting for one or the
other of the distracted clerks
to give them attention. The
office was of good size, square
and high-ceilinged, with large
prismed windows in the rear
Ndiss minattng light to the
furthest corners. At one side
stood a brief row of salesmen's
desks, their names on small
brass signs, neatly screwed to
the edges: Mr.. Thomas, Mr.. Cav
alier, Mr.. Cox. There once had
F.. been, for few months, a fer.
rety-eyed young man, named Joe
Cavalier, who had worked for
Baldwin & Lansing as a sales
man, but ''Mr. Thomas and
-:'Mr. Cox" were purely fictitious
personages. The row of desks
and the brass names had been
Lansing's idea; he declared it
gave an air of prosperity to the
firm; it impressed callers, and
particularly rivals in the real
estate business.
Above the three desks in a
redwood frame. the rough ragged
bark still adhering, hung a large
panoramic view of "Carlsbad-by-
the-Sea," new development,
showing several houses in pro-
cess of construction, lagoens be-
Ing dredged, gas and sewer pipes
being laid. There were other
photographs: automobile picnic
parties in a redwood grove, a
new railroad station, mission
style. the name conspicuous in
large gilt letters. a gondola be-
decked with roses, gliding through
pond lilies. a caterpillar tractor
breaking ground.
On the opposite side of the. of
flee was the renting department
before which, just now, two old
ladies in black and a wrinkled
little 1rishman elbowed one an
other, all talking at once to a
flustered clerk who nervously ex-
amined and re-examined a long
thumb-worn card file. More
photographs adorned this wall:
a man parting gigantic corn
stalks, two laughing children
peering from a heap of oranges,
a row Of cows standing knee
deep in a willow-shaded stream.
On a large square table in the
middle of the office were ar
ranged neat stacks Of colored
folders and circulars, and between
these were small piles of corn
ears, sample bags of beans and
Dry. alfalfa, enormous walnuts, a
pyramid of dried pruaes, and
ornamental glass jars containing.
large eserved pears and
peaches. Typewriters clicked;
young women, with paper cuffs
about their wrists and protecting
sheets OF paper pinned to their
ehirt>waist fronts, moved busily
about, comforting with one an
other, laughing. talking, dang
ling in their hands important
looking legal documents with
alarming carelessness. Between
the two glassed-in private offices,
before a desk obliterated under
wild confusion of papers, sat
the office manager, Mr.. Benja-
min j. Sharp,-known to his en-
ployers and familiar associates
as Benny" A visitor sat at
his elbow, two clerks waited to
speak to him; every minute or
two the telephone interrupted
him.
A Changed Philip.
Miss Josephs-Miss Josephs,"
he bawlcd, the receiver, clapped
to his ear, we got that Kennedy
deed back from the Title Com.
pany yet? Attorneys wait
Ing for il - Then back
10 the telephone: BE over this
afternoon, Mr.. Eaton. Sorry
you've been held up What
ia you say? Well, III have
10 refer that to Mr.. Baldwin
Hes in a conference just now: