The Argosy, March 1907 — page 87: what you’re looking at

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

THAT TYPEWRITER GIRL. and talk together in such an intimate “way that I gritted my teeth with rage. ‘“T believe I should have done some- thing serious to that chap if he hadn’t dropped suddenly out of the scene alto- gether. “After that she entered my elevator all alone again; and her manner once more grew very friendly toward me. I was again filled with hope,and this hope grew when one evening I ventured to ask her in a casual sort of way what had become ef Simmons and she answered indif- ferently, ‘Oh, Mr. Dewar fired him. I’m glad of it, too. He was a very tiresome young man.’ “T noticed with a thrill of joy that she no longer refused to wear my violets. She thanked me for them as sweetly as before. I was so glad that I even found room in my heart to pity that poor young ass of a Simmons. ‘““My joy was short-lived, however. Our former pleasant relations had been renewed about a week and I was seri- ously thinking of summoning all my courage and proposing matrimony, when I experienced another shock. “She began to go to lunch with her boss, Dewar, and they left the office in each other’s company every evening. ‘Once more her manner toward me changed and she grew very cold and dis- tant. The limit was f€ached when she told me one morning, gently, but firmly, when I offered her a bunch of violets, that she was very sorry, but she could not accept them, as her mother did not wish her ,to receive presents from strangers. “Then my heart was indeed filled with despair. I asked myself bitterly what chance did I stand against that rich young lawyer. I began to have an inkling then as to just why Dewar had fired the unfortunate Simmons. “Apparently the lawyer intended this pink-and-white girl for himself; he was not going to see her carried off by a seven-dollar-a-week law clerk, or by an elevator man either. “One afternoon, the lawyer and the typewriter girl returned from lunch, and as they stepped into my car Dewar says out loud, ‘How would you like to go to the theater to-night, Gertrude? I’ve got seats for the Casino, and after the 659 show we will go to Rector’s and get something to eat.’ . “And she answered him, all beaming With smiles: “That would be delightful, Paul.’ “IT bit my lip in rage and despair. When I had asked her to go with me to the theater she had told me that her mother wouldn’t let her, and yet here she was eagerly accepting this lawyer’s in- vitation. ““And he had called her ‘ Gertrude’ - and she had called him ‘ Paul’ right before me. It was maddening. I was so upset that I lost control of the lever and the car shot up like lightning and . struck the roof of the shaft with a crash. “Tt was a wonder that the whole three of us weren’t killed. Luckily I managed to summon enough presence of mind to reverse the lever and bring the car down again. “ “How confoundedly careless of you, Jerry,’ says Dewar to me. ‘ You might have killed us.’ “If he had only known how little I would have cared if I had killed him, he would have avoided my car _ there- after. “All that - afternoon I felt pretty — gloomy, I can tell you. I thirsted for a chance to cut out that lawyer. “And later in the day a chance came in the form of a messenger-boy. “The messenger-boy boarded my car and said that he wanted to go to Mr. Dewar’s office on the seventh floor. “ “What for?’ I asked suspiciously. “ “Don’t know,’ said the boy. - ‘ He’s just called for a messenger. I’m going up to see what he wants.’ ri “A few minutes later the boy came down again, and he had an unfolded telegram in his hand. “Something prompted me to ask the boy to let me see the message. ‘The boy handed it to me, and I was astonished to read: “ “Mrs. Paul Dewar, Mount Vernon, New York. Don’t wait dinner for me. Cannot be home until late to-night. De- tained down-town by important business engagement. PAuvt.’ ““Ha!l’ I exclaimed. ‘And so the wretch has got a wife in Mount Vernon, and yet he has the nerve to pay atten- tion to my girl. Ill wager that pretty COMIC IOC <SiiGO 23 | a +4 Ca -