Imperial Valley press., 1937-06-06
M WANT A JOB" she said. not

WAN 1 A JObi Sne Sdlut iol
pleadingly, but gaily, as
though she fully expected to get
one.
His eyes saw the luxurious
softness of the brown coat with
its deep cuffs of fur; the blue
eyes, laughing and a bit impu-
dent; the self-confident expression
of the lovely young face.
do you need a job?" he asked
coldly and was irritated because
he could not remember where he
had seen her.
"I'll say l need one," she re-
piled pleasantly. And" she
added blithely, II always get
what 1 go after"
He frowned at the fiippancy of
her reply but at the same time a
wave of satisfaction swept him.
He had recognized her. She was
the girl who little more than a
week ago had been at the meet
ing of the committee the mayor
had appointed to investigate re-
lief measures for the unem-
ployed. And when he had spoken.
seriously, because he always
spoke seriously, she had looked at
him with the disconcerting di-
rectness of a child-a mischie-
vous child. He had longed to
shake her.
He had an impulse to shake her
now. He had no sympathy with
wealthy girls who worked for the
fun of it, especially in times like
the present. He knew what it
was to need job, had known
ever since he had been fourteen
years old. Strange, at times, to
think that at twenty-nine he was
the city editor of the paper he
had once sold on street corners.
Peter Kent, city editorl
Suppose you give me your
name" he said courteously but
unencouragingly as he reached
for a piece of paper, "As fell
low member of the Unemploy-
ment Committee I ought to know
it," ne continued affably. Either
the person who introduced us
mumbled or was deaf"
you were deaf" she stated
fatty. He spoke very distinctly.
I'm Claire Dufresne."
Claire Dufresnel The daughter
of Philip Dufresne who not only
owned the dingy building the
Ledger was housed in but had
been one of its hackers when
O'Connell had started it in 1900.
Clearly tact must be employed
here. Dufresne, he knew was in
California. Mrs. Dufresne had
been dead for several years and
the girl had spent most of her
time abroad, had only recently,
in fact, come home.
why don't you see Mr.. O'Con-
nell? ?" he said. That was the
idea. Pass the buck to O'Connell.
He's the managing editor, you
know; the one who ultimately
hires and fires :"
FIFTEEN minutes later O'Con-
nell, sixty and stout, with a
bit of a swagger in his walk,
came in.
"We'll have a new member on
the staff tomorrow, Peter" he
said affably. ITO tell you the
truth, I didn't want to take her
on but-well, it's Claire Du-
fresne." He paused to see what
effect this announcement would
have. "I'll give her two weeks at
the most. She isn't fitted to do
anything, naturally, SO don't give
her much-You get the idea"
Peter got the idea and grum-
bled and growled about it. Maybe
O'Connell felt under obligation to
Dufresne, but he didn't. Peter
smiled grimly. 1t was just barely
possible that Claire Dufresne
would feel like leaving before the
end of two weeks.
To his amazement and chagrtn
the girl did what she was as
signed to cover accurately and
tersely. Her weak point was her
typewriting, and her copy was
atrocious. To make matters
worse, to her lot had fallen what
was known as the Ark of the
Covenant, an especially decrepit
machine with double keyboard.
She spoke about it the first day.
II know I'm awfully slow" she
apologized in tone of voice that
held no spark Of regret, "but