Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 7, 1928 — page 115: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

By LAURANCE M. HARE The dilemma of the man who realized he had neglected to give his seat to the boss’s wife and its startling sequel ITH a gesture, Mr. George WV Linden summoned the office boy to his desk. He handed the youth a small envelope, a five dol- lar bill and a slip of paper upon which was written a name and address. “ Run down to the nearest florist,” Mr. Linden directed, “and order a bunch of violets sent to the address on that slip and have them inclose the envelope in the box. Bring the change back to me. I’ll be responsible for your absence.” These were explicit instructions, but Linden had had a long experience with office boys of varying degrees of intel- ligence and the occasion was too im- portant for any mistake to be made. As the boy retreated across the of- fice, George’s brow puckered. He called and the boy returned to his desk. “Never mind now,” said Mr. Lin- den, extending his hand for the money and envelope. “ Pll take care of it my- self later on.” “Yes, sir.’ The office boy turned to depart, but George restrained him. “By the way, Henry,” he said, “ it might be good for you to remember that when you have a duty to perform, do it yourself and don’t delegate it to somebody else. You may go now.” Henry agreed perfectly with Mr. Linden and went. He covered his mouth with his hand so that his snicker might be mistaken for a cough and 105 COLMIELDOOLES (E@)