Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine, Vol. 107 No. 3 — page 54: what you’re looking at

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

396 ‘Next instant he was sure they had shift- ed, although very slightly, just as Jimmy was now certain the shoes were not a dis- carded pair thrust beneath the bookcase, for they were man’s shoes and of large size, the toes turning up slightly. His erstwhile Circe never wore shoes like those. , The ‘“ eyes” shifted slightly, becaus whoever was in those shoes—and somebody was in them, because they were lace-shoes, and laced up, and the strings knotted in a slovenly way—had shifted his weight from one foot to the other, as if to ease the strain on the legs above the feet filling the shoes during a rather long vigil. All this happened in the proverbial twinkling of an eye—the “eyes” on the shoes. Jimmy smiled outside, while inside he was very much less facetious than he had been on entering. Her name had “ touched off ” a series of mental pyrotechnics inside his cranium, and this discovery of the moving foot added an element of the dramatic and suggested prob- abilities containing every element but hu- mor, including complications. Miss Baldwin had been alone, apparent- ly, when he came in. The first query that came fluttering from the mental fireworks was: “‘ Does she know this other fellow is there, listening to what is said?” Jimmy rather shrewdly decided that she did not. Public stenographers are not usually ac- tresses of such sterling ability that they have to hide their histrionic genius under a modest sign in a dingy coal town. Had Miss Baldwin, therefore, known of the presence of the individual behind the bookcase, it was.very, very doubtful if her perfect poise and casual manner—although eager—would have seemed so unfeigned when Jimmy came in. She had, it is true, been a little nervous. But she had accounted for that by ask- ing him not to “ go too fast’ while dic- tating. Besides, what motive could she have in secreting some one in the room to listen to his dictation when her present cus- tomer did not himself know he was going to be a customer, when he had first opened the door to her office? ARGOSY AND RAILROAD MAN’S MAGAZINE. She couldn’t have known that Jimmy would do anything of the sort, even had she guessed he was coming mto the office to dictate—a fact that was highly improbable —for Jimmy hadn’t known that he would dictate until he had been more than half- way to her desk. It had been a sheer im-' pulse—even a perverse one. -It had been bred of his spontaneous im- agination, in part, and in part again, of his unvoiced comparison of her to certain ladies of whose antiquity there was so little doubt that she might not have been flattered by the comparison. All of which went flashing through his brain like the shutter of a cinematograph. ‘““T put a period after word ‘ parts,’” ' gaid she-- “ Quite nmght,” muttered Jimmy, with a frown that might mean anything or noth- ming. ‘“‘ Would you mind reading it back to me? I’m afraid my mood makes me wan- der a little.” As she did so he rose, puffed vigorously on his cigar, and paced back and forth with his hands in his trousers. Jimmy had seen certain men of affairs do such things. His irresolute air and apparent aimless wandering brought him quickly to the end of the case. He saw that it stood on cast- ers, was rather modern, and purposely built high to allow a brush or mop to be manipu- lated beneath it. Also, within a couple of feet of one end, was another door, leading into what seemed to be a back room. Jimmy paced back again toward the machine, puffing his cigar. ‘Thank you,” said he. ‘“ Now, one more paragraph. Hoping to have. better news when I write again, I am, as ever, yours optimisically, and Vl sign it after you direct an envelope to Mr. Asa Chenil- worth, Miners’ Bank Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” While she complied, Jimmy thrust the ribbon copy of the letter into his pocket, signed and carefully folded the carbon, in- serted it in the envelope, and sealed it. Then he paid her. | She thanked him, smiling shyly, and ob- served: ‘If I won’t offend you, I’d like to say that is the most unique letter I’ve writ- ten since I went in this business.” NOO (C(O) S (C(O) mM