Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1923-01-08
TWO MlsFlTs AND A
GENTLE blACKMAlLER
A Short story.
ny n. IRVING MING.
eCcpyrisht. is,s. by Mcclure Nswspapsi
SvudicatAA


a, A.. Sh. could take dictation as
fss, al any man could talk and talk |,
asncly. she spelled correctly and
punctuated TO perfection. The
most unusuA, word had no terror
for her. To see her shapely fingers
- tripping over the koys was a
positive delight. Furthermore. she
DID not chow gum IN working |,
hours. always looked as epick and
span ~ n she had just come out
81 handhoN. and had a face both
pretty and intelllgen;-a pleasing
combination.
A o. Henry. whils clever
youth IN many ways. woodworking
and RiaiNart. no had drlfted into the
wrong pew" q. the saying Is. YOUNG
mon tvpi-is are I know. not go very
common nowadays; but they may he
found now and then IN conservative
business houses whore n beeile-brow-
.i. cruzty ia fosy ~ a senior partner
with "A prehistoric conception ut "wo-
man. sphere" holds sway--as was the
csee ln the mercantile house Of Hob
-on A Go. Yes. Henry was employed
~ uoi~on a 60 but - VAS evident
that ne would not be- FOR Ions. In tax
ing tn. dlctatlon 81 ordinary business
letters o,en-ahout al he had 20 do
tho chatter ~ his machine was con-
s,antiy interrupted while Henry ask
oil. "whaf was that last How do
YOU spell that word" or Il did not
catch that"
ilenry's ivpewritlng WAS The hand .
writing on the wal that forehoded HE
4, Iran
that Sob. too. for no had conceived
the idea % marrying Margaret X she
would have him: ana Margaret had
conceived Tho idea % marrying Henry
II he should ask her. Thcs. two hard
working ard es,imahle young people
wer. jewellers in the suburbs and took
tho same train On 90 business IN the
morninE--frcoueutiy the same one
home a. nlght. That s how they
came 90 establish that prop.nquity
which - 20 such help IN swelling the
marriage statistics. Henry soon got
g. calling upon Margaret az her pater-
ma cottage and 90 sitting with her OF
summer nights on the paternal p'szza.
where gains out over The dreamy,
mist flooded meadows whore the sifted
mooniisht fell. and consuming large
quantities - ice cream from the Nl-
lace store. they passed many a bliss
fui hour. And one evening Henry
spoke. AEd Margaret SAID. Yes"
Msrgnret WAS employed IN Mrs. Petit
rr~Ns s~,a ADVANTAGEOUS % those
hr typswritlng places where many
girls "a many machines click away all
day long coyving documents or taking
dlctafion from mon who rush IN and
speak their lite piece. srab up the
iypevriit.n results pay rfe!r money
and rush "ut.
There vas ono patron OF Mrs. Pet
usrev = establishment who always
selected Margsre; NJ his ananuens.s
man about forty. evidently mo-,
prosperous person. and ne was writ
ing uoNe,. Also he tried h.s hand
A. short stories. Sometime. he dcia;-
"a from notes sometimes "ou; % his
hsad" Prom literary point -
view the results were equally d.sas-
trous. Mhrgare; never knew what
he rcsi name vss-he had pen
name Nah'ek. which Ne placed at
"a. head % rs short stor,ee. Henry
knew abou; AR VRh;ek:" Margaret
had told him They we're IN the hsb.;
az di~russins together The lights and
shadow q their business understand
ms. 10 vas through these discussions
that Nsrxsre; became gradually aware
that Henry wac what he frankly
called hlms.if-"A pretty bum type
writer"
sh. rorroved him for the vulgsrty
% no expression. but RETAINED from
denying i,s essential truth. Th~re-
} fore. for th.e-and another reason
which will appear later-she was not
surprised when one evening. abou; two
weeks after Henry had MADE n. dec
laration IN form" be burst in upon her
s'tirs on The piazza and cried out:
'its al over We can: get married.
I'm fred. In no good a; anything.
'usi came % ssy sood-by"
Margare; cut him short by !mplan--
'rs kiss upon his Ups and saying
calmly Henry. dear. SIS not all over
Its Just bsgln-th.s love OF oure.
l's a. the hss. You never would
have made a docen; typlst n a hun
d'ed Year,, but there a.. lots ~ other
INNS. you would he a success At I
have been cons.derins the matter FOR
some time and have ded mat your
vocation r. that 90 travelling saIes-
man. And row J have uu. and a
plan. You remeu.ber uy telling YOU
about that Mr.. Nantek-the man who
fhlnks he car write WEI. What do
you suppose rs real name t. LIS
Charlton. .unilr member o; Hot~on &
CO. found % QUE when he came into
ths ono. today and offered M. a Do
sfion with his firm a. SO week
NOR. than ! am Estting now % AXE
ths piac. % an !ncomps,eut youny
m~n--thats yog-whom he had jus,
aisshsrx.d"
"srsat Scott" exclaimed Henry
"nut what about Old man Hohson
VIII swore h. never would have a
woman about the once. reckor
thnis why they put Up with no ~
ions--the diricui-y ~ getting another
ma. typis, who wouldn't 10 vors.
than ] WA"
Oh" replied Narsnr~t. Mr. ~ b.
cor. ] understand retire. from ac-ly,
business nsst weck--so that's a..
r'sht"
And you took the job aske,
Henry.
"Ys-yes" said Margaret. "upor
conditions
Conditional What DO you mean2
We'll you sec" replied Margare
slowly AIR Charlton esid he hRl
given up hs idea . being a grea
suthor-s.slid that se guessed ne wa
a. much % "A ul-ff Al literature a