The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1940-06-27

tai he presented himself at the
executive offices of Talbot's Fifth
Avenue store. After short wait
he was, Yshered into Henry JUS
tins office. He sat jim, ., deep arm
chair facing :;the: tall, ..hesvy-set,
grey-haired sales manager.
81 read all about it in the pa-
pers," Justin said. 'Most lamen-
table,. ~
Len nodded. Zone of LIES
tough breaks, I guess. Naturally"
he went on, Il must get to work;
forget about tennis now that I'll
never be able to play again. I'm
looking for job, Mr.. Justin, and
thought perhaps Talbot's might
find me of some value"
! Justin was silent for long
time. Len watched his face eager
ly, but his expression was in
scrutable Only the soft staccato
drumming of the well-kept fin
! gernails had relieved the tension.
Finally Justin asked: .'You
: would not be averse, Mr.. Rollins,
to working in the racquets de-
partment? Most of our statesmen
start at twenty dollars a week,
with commissions of course. But
because of the value of your
name associated with .Talbot's
tennis department we would
start you with slightly higher
salary. Say twenty-five dollars.
Len leaned forward in his
chair. IF it's all the same to you,
Mr.. Justin" he said EVENLY. I'D
just as soon sart at twenty, like
the rest of the beginners
The sales managers eyes wide
ned slightly in surprise, but only
for an instant. Then suddenly the
tattoo against the blotter stopped.
''You start at nine tomorrow, Mr..
Rollins. Report to Mr.. Weir in the
racquets department on the fifth
floor; he'll show you around"
Lens h art somersaulted.
Thanks, Mr.. Justin; I'll do my
best.
The elation he felt as he left
the Talbot Building defied analy-
sis. His step became suddenly
springy despite the limp, as he
made his way to the nearest tele-
graph office and wrote on yell
low blank:
SECURED POSITION WITH
TALBOT'S AT TWENTY PER
WHEN MAY l EXPECT YOU
ANSWER ST ANDREW HOTEL
LEN
And as he dined that evening
at the modest and inexpensive St.
Andrew, after day of happy,
fantastic dreams wherein he was
buried under mountainous orders
and rose from lowly salesman to
Henry Justin's desk the answer
came:
ARRIVING TOMORROW 6:15
PM MEET ME IF POSSIBLE
MUCH LOVE GRACE
There were three other sales
men in the tennis department.
Johnson, the youngest, seemed
terribly impressed at Len Rollins
actually here in the flesh work.
ing at his side. He was a tennis
enthusiast and had seen Len play
more than once. The second sales
man, Carey, was slightly condos
cending, but Len suspected this
to be pose more than anything
else; a pose by which he tried
to get over to Len Rollins that for
all his past glories he was, after
all, just a salesman like the rest
of them. The third clerk, Martens,
was definitely unfriendly. The
grip of his hand lacked warmth
and his tone was surly as Len
was introduced. Len wondered
if perhaps fear for his job caused
Martens unfriendliness.
"Of course" Weir, the man
ager, explained, you understand
that any customers who come in
and ask specifically for you ere
your customers. There's a notice
in the morning papers,"
Len procured a newspaper and
flipped through the first four
pages before he saw set in a
small oblong space, dignified
announcement: