The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1931-01-29
The First-Aid
Girl
By JANE OSBORN

- ly over the telephone in his pri-,
vate Office which he, as recently ap-
pointed costs expert for Walter and
Dawkins, had occupied for less than
two weeks. AS he hung up the receiv-
er he looked at his hand and saw
drops of blood on his fingers and on
the papers on his desk. Then he re-
membered that in the heat of his
argument he had raised his hand en-,
phatically and brought it down hard
on something sharp. 1t was the Keen
pointed paper spike, he discovered,
and apparently he had given his finger
a rather deep but not necessarily seri-
Gus cut.
Anyone got any cotton for band
ages here?" he asked of young clerk
who happened to be passing. Il
scratched my finger"
you'll get it from the first-aid girl
down at the last DESK" said the clerk.
"She's got all those things. Aromatic
spirits Of ammonia when anyone
faints."
Bill Otis, still holding his handker-
chief firmly around his finger to hide
any scarlet stains that might have
shown it was something more than a
scratch, went down to the last desk
in the large main office. A young girl
who seemed to be very busy making
records in several enormous books sat
there. Bill hoped sincerely that she
was the first-aid girl for he had no
ticed her several times before.
Its just a scratch" Bill said
"Give me a little bandaging, if you
don't mind"
you'd better go back in your Of
fice," said the girl. "I'll follow"
Two minutes later Bill was seated
in his large armchair with this very
pretty young girl beside him. With
immaculate white and shapely hands
she was bathing the finger that had
been cut-using sterile cotton and O.
little white enamel cup. Then she
took Bills large hand in hers and
looking at it almost tenderly asked
him if it didn't hurt. at was rather
bad tear" she told him. Il think I
should have tainted" She applied
some healing salve on bit Of sterile
cotton and then neatly bandaged it
so neatly that you would have thought
a graduate nurse had done it.
The next day in passing the desk Of
the first-aid girl, Bill Otis stopped to
thank her for her trouble. He like
wise asked her her name. Margaret
Clark, she told him. He told her she
was a born nurse.
"Really I'm not" she said. "rve
always hated anything like that. But
when I took this job the first-aid kit
seemed to go with the desk. They
said that the girl that sat at this desk
always had had 1t. Some one had to
be responsible-and so 1 took it.
Nothing ever happened like this be-
fore, though" she said rather proud
that at last she had been called upon
to show her skill.
More than ever Bill Otis admired
this girl at the end desk, and every
time he passed he made some mental
observation Of her. She was dressed
so smartly, her hair was always so
smooth and glossy and we'll brushed,
and her hands-he always noticed
them-were always SO Immediately
white and free from office CRIME OF
any kind. I
A few days later he sent her 8
large bunch Of violets with card en-
closed, saying simply, From a CRATE
full patient" By that time the office
people were talking pleasantly about
Margaret Clark and Bill Otis.
Then one day something really did
happen. Bill Otis, in his office alone,
went to raise the heavy swinging win
dow. Through defect in the chain,
that was supposed to hold the win
dow, it fell with a crushing thud on
Bills arm. AS he turned to go back
to his desk the walls seemed to bend
and the furniture went swimming
round the room. Bill tried to raise
his arm and almost tainted.
perhaps spirits of ammonia would
pull me around until 1 get out OF
here" he said to himself, and with
all the fortitude he could muster went
to the door and asked the girl nearest
him to ask Miss Clark to come i'm
with her first-aid. The girl laughed
and Bill shut the door and staggered
over to his chair.
Bill doesn't remember just what
happened then, except that he made
Margaret understand that he wanted
to pull himself together so as to be
able to get away without anyone in
the office knowing that he had been
hurt. It was the ammonia spirits that
she mixed up that gave him the
strength he needed-that and the
promise that if he could get to the
main entrance she'd meet him there
with a taxi.
She drove with him to the nearest
hospital where doctors gave him
ether and learned that he had sus-
tanned a compound fracture Of his
arm.
AS Bill opened his eyes and felt
the slow, dull pangs return, there was
Margaret Clark, his flrst-aid girl, be-
side him.
1T know I'm only a first-aid," she
said apologetically, "but I wanted to
see you through" The pallor on her
pretty cheeks told Bill that her Or
deal has not by any means been an