The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1930-02-13
DORIS
WINDOW
HOME
(9 by D. J. Walsh.)

guessed from her cheerful expression
that she wished this city street would
turn into Main street, Wendemere, By
a sudden wave Of some fairy wand.
In Windemere girl could be 4 feet
or 6 feet tall and she could get a
stenographer's job anyhow II she
could take her shorthand notes and
read them fast enough later at the
typewriter. But In the city It seemed
that business men had more compass
sionate hearts-if one could call 1t
that, taking away a girls job because
she was so tinyl
Only that morning Doris had been
writing at her machine when the man.
ager came to her desk: "Get your
time, Miss Wells. We have another
girl for your desk. I'm sorry, but I
Just can't stand it to see girl as
little as you are doing that mammoth
amount Of work every day! It's too
much for you"
A hundred answers had sprung to
Doris lips: Wasn't 1t better to have a
hard job than none at all? Hadn't she
done the work well, cleaning up every
thing at $50 every evening before
she left for the day? The girl who
had held the position before her had
often enough had eight or ten letters
left for the next morning. Doris
knew this by the soiled-looking note
hook that the other girl had left be-
hind her.
And back in Wendemere-DoHs
sighed. She could have kept on with
her Job there only 1t had sickened
her to see the girls all making such a
dead "set" at Wayne Griswold. Wayne
Griswold was the son Of the towns
mayor. The mayor owned the lumber
yard, the coal yard, the ice plant. was
president of one bank and director
on the board of the other one-oh,
Wayne Griswold was undoubtedly a
good "catch" and we'll worth hunting
down, but Doris would never hunt
down any man, she told herself.
Time had been when Wayne asked
her to go to all the school parties, but
that had been before the girls had
started asking him boldly and BADLY
If he didn't want to take them. And
Wayne. like many another man, liked
fiattery.
At this moment Doris passed win
dow where a large, sullen girl was
throwing flour on a bright green rug
before she ran the sweeper over the
flour to prove to the onlookers what a
good vacuum was for sale within. The
manager of the store, to guess from
his assured bearing, entered the win
dow at this instant and said something
that apparently displeased the DEM
onstrator Probably he had told the
girl to smile for he barred his own
fine teeth as an example.
The girl stared at him coldly for a
moment, shrugged her shoulders and
threw with some temper all the flour
in the box at hand on the green car
pet and walked out of the little door
at the back of the window. Doris
smiled. She almost ran into the shop.
"That demonstration has left her
job?" she asked of the man who was
by now following the large girl out of
the window.
YES" he said shortly.
"Then I'd like the job,' said Doris
promptly.
But you-you're too little to stand
there all day demonstrating that
thing" he said doubtfully.
at doesn't take any great amount
of strength to run a vacuum back and
FORTH" said Doris, "and, besides, when
people see tiny woman doing the
work they will have no doubt that can
do it if they are Of even ordinary
size"
"You win," said the man, grinning.
'sReady to work now?"
Gail ready" said Doris. "Only that's
a silly window advertisement, If you
happen to ask my opinion. Sensible
folks don't pour flour on good rug
and then take it up again. That dis
play doesn't come within folks expert
ence. Now if you put little parti-
ton between the two halves of the
window and made one half up to look
like a garden with a large sand box.
and, say, couple Of puppies playing
in the sand-a couple Of bones would
insure there digging there-and then
have me at the piano or at sewing
table where the dogs run in, bringing
sand on their feet. I clean up the
sand with the vacuum and-presto-
the sales will run up something amaz-
ing"
We'll try it." the man assented.
"rm not sure 1t will work, but sales
have been little slow"
''Yes, because people have seen that
flour stunt so often that they pass
right by the window" said Doris.
"More than that, folks always stop to
look at dogs"
Doris enjoyed arranging the win
dow. They had let down a drop like
stage drop to hide them while they
worked at the sand and garden part Of
it. Tall hollyhocks nodded at a back
fence Of cardboard.
"You can let the curtain up again
while straighten out the living room
part" said Doris, "there's no use
wasting good time when people are
passing the window"
Il believe it's going to work." the
manager said. enthusiastically. "And
I'm telling you that something had
to work and sell cleaners around this
shop or IL was going to be on the