Friday, April 26, 1940
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
III tUlllUiSg
Article Story
Essay Poetry
A
Ten years is a long time to wait for nothing
zZ-io use,
"Van't find the damn thing
By Charles Bourke.
It was late. Ted's eyes were
burning and his tired mind was
swirling. He had been at the of
fice overtime trying to straighten
out one of his accounts. He had
checked thoroughly a dozen times
-but couldn't find the error. "It's
he muttered to himself. I
The
hell with it." He closed his books,
locked them in the files and put
on his coat and hat. He didn't
need his key to get out, as the of
fice door was ajar. He wondered
why it was open, but such a mat
ter wasn't important. What was
important was that he get some
sleep. "I'll come back at six and
try to put this mess in order before
the boss gets here," he decided.
Outside, he found it was too late
to take a trolley; and he couldn't
afford a cab. He lived only nine
blocks away, and decided to walk
it. When he entered the hallway
of his rooming house, he noticed
that the front door was open.
"Keys don't mean much tonight,"
he thought, as he climbed the
stairs to his room. Outside his
door, he stopped, surprised. The
light inside was burning!
He was alone.
"Who the hell would be here at
wo in the morning?" he ques
tioned. Cautiously, he opened the
door. He was alone in the room.
Nothing had been disturbed as far
as he could see. But why was
the light on?
"Aw, nuts," he mumbled. "The
landlady probably forgot to turn
off the light after she cleaned
out." His gaze went to his dres
ser and fell on a picture of a pret
ty young woman.
"Sally," he murmured.
Sally was the girl he loved,
whom he hoped to marry some
day. Ever since college, he and
aul had vied for this young wom
an's affection. Paul had been his
roommate and his best friend dur
ing four years at Wisconsin's
school of accounting. Following
Mills Teachers Agency
S. E. Mills, A.M., '29, Manager
WAST El) i Inexperienced
Teachers.
408 Security Mutual
Lincoln, Nebr.
graduation, Ted had found a job in
a large accounting office in Mil
waukee. Paul had yet to draw his
first week's salary. Every once in
a while the two met and remin
isced. Ted did his best to get
Paul on at the office, but he was
more concerned now with holding
his own job than with finding work
for his friend. Tonight's search
for mistakes had been his third
search in a month. The boss was
displeased with him when the mis
takes were so careless and espe
cially when it was so easy to find
the difficulty when he inspected
Ted's work.
Paul, a good dresser.
Funny thing about Paul,
though; although he couldn't find
work, he somehow managed to
wear decent clothes, to take Sally
to dances and shows, and to enjoy
life as though he were prospering.
He never complained of his "tough
luck." Ted often wondered how
Paul did it. He concluded that
Paul's folks were still supporting
him, although he never asked Paul
about his source of income. An
other thing Ted couldn't figure out
was who Sally loved. She went out
with both men, and both men had
pictures of her. She liked them
both, he knew that. Tonight, or
rather this morning, Ted was too
tired to ponder long over these un
solvable problems. He finally
switched off the light and went
to sleep.
Ted dreamed oiten and tonight
was no exception. Sally's face,
radiant and smiling, formed a pat
tern behind his dreams. Ted loved
her deeply and worried about his
chances of ever marrying her. He
saw himself sitting at his desk
with his hair tousled and his fin
gers tapping on the glass desk top
while he tried to correct his mis
take. He dreamed of finding a new
job. He saw Paul married to Sally.
After tossing all night, he rose
mechanically from a tangled pile
of blankets and sheets at six
o'clock when the alarm went off,
shaved, dressed, and left for the
office, determined to set his books
in order.
Anything wrong?
At eight, the boss came in.
went straight to Ted's desk and
asked him if he had discovered
what was wrong.
"No, sir. I haven't run across
it yet. I should be able to find
it soon, though. If you'd "
"You numbskull!" the boss
fumed. "Look at that entry there!
SPORTY WALKERS
SADDLES BARGES DUTCH BARGES
Crepe Soles Leather Soles
Composition Soles
$500 - $550 - $650
ULVER
131 So. 13
Is, that where it belongs?" !
"Why, I-I. No, sir that's the
trouble alright why I should
have."
"Yeah. You should have seen it
before. Just like the other mis
takes you make. I don't think you
know much about keeping ac
counts; in fact, I'm sure of it, so
sure that you'd better report to
the cashier, get your check, and
forget you ever worked here!"
"But, sir, I ."
"You you nothing! I'm dis
gusted with you. There are plenty
of other accountants who can do
this work and do it right." The
boss turned and went into his pri
vate office,
Ted just sat at what was his
desk and stared at a calendar on
the wall. Over the calendar was a
blue sign that read, "Keep Smil
ing." Til need if
"I might as well get my check.
I'm sure as hell going to need it
now," he thought.
Suddenly, the boss stomped out
of his office, his face white, his
eyes large and round. "Rogers!"
he yelled. Ted jumped up from the
desk and whirled around.
Yes, s-sir."
"Get in here!"
Ted hurried to the inner office.
"How late were you here last
night?" the boss demanded.
" 'Till about one-thirty, sir. Why,
is there anything wrong?"
"That's a silly question for you
to ask, you, you sit down over
there and don't move. I'm calling
the police!"
"The police! What for?"
"You know damn well what for.
You needn't try to fox us, you
smart punk. Fifty thousand would
have come in handy. Too bad those
bonds aren't negotiable."
"Fifty thousand? Bonds? Not
negotiable? I don't understand."
negotiable? I don't under
stand..." "Shut up!"
The cops come.
Ten minutes later, three uni
formed officers and a plain
clothesman walked into the office.
The boss told his story. Fifty
thousand dollars worth of non-negotiable
bonds was missing from
the office safe. Ted had been in
the office from closing time until
one-thirty in the morning and had
come back at six-thirty. The bonds
were in the safe when the boss
left the evening before and fie was
the last to leave, except for Ted.
"You'll probably find 'em in his
room," snapped the employer.
Handcuffed, Ted showed the
way to his room, where the police
started turning things upside
down. In a few minutes, the plain
clothesman had found the bonds,
much to Ted s astonishment. They
had been under his mattress, two
of them torn across the middle.
"What was the hurry sticking
'em under there, Sonny?" the de
tective inquired.
"I didn't know they were thre,
honest. . ."
"Sure, sure. It ain't time to con
fess yet kid. Wait a while,"
laughed one of the cops.
Dirty work afoot.
Ted saw it all now. Someone
who knew him or at least knew
where he lived, and who knew he
was at the office last night had
stolen the bonds while he worked
late. Finding Ihem non-negotiable,
the thief had evidently come to
Ted's room and disposed of them.
That accounted for the light being
on earlier that morning.
Ted didn't have a chance. Every
thing pointed to his guilt. Broken
by the preponderant weight of cir
cumstantial evidence, by Sally's
refusal to see him. and by Paul's
cold sneer during the trial, he
gave up. He was sentenced to five
years in prison, subject to pardon
in three years on good behavior.
Without money, he couldn't appeal
his case. Without friends, he didn't
care to appeal it. He went to pris
on moody, broken-hearted, fueling
he had nothing to live for, almost
wishing the sentence, pronounced
had been longer. What would he
do when he was released? With a
record, he could never get a decent
job. He lost faith in God, in every
thing. He became bitter.
Out of prison.
Three years of living inside cold
stone walls and spending endless
days thinking of Justice, liberty
and other abstract things passed.
Ted, feeling the weight of ten
more years on his shoulders, wear
ing a new prison made suit, and
with twenty dollars in his pocket
came down the outside walk with
the warden. He was free again.
"Goodbye kid," the latter said.
"Here's luck to you. You deserve
it and you'll need it. Your record
here is a fine one. You shouldn't
have too hard a time."
"Thanks, Warden," Ted- gulped.
"But whether I've been a good
prisoner or not, I've still got a
record. Whether it's good or bad
in your opinion means nothing.
It's bad out here. I'll try hard,
though, and thanks for the en
couragement." He was hungry.
Ted walked to the highway and
thumbed his wayNto the city. It
was cold tonight and he was
hungry. He had to take it easy,
though, because his twenty dollars
had to last him until he found
work. Hungry more for news,
however, than for food, he bought
a newspaper; why, he hadn't seen
one for three years! Prison rules.
He devoured the thing. Every
inch of the paper read like h.
beautiful story; every inch until
he turned to the society page.
There, clear and lifelike, was
Sally's picture! Under it, he read:
Mrs. Paul Jackson ... he couldn't
read any more.
So Sally had married Paul! Ted
should have expected that. If he
couldn't have her, he would have
wanted his best frjend to have her.
Sure, that was alright; that was
the best way.
What Ted didn't know was that
Paul had stepped into his job a
week after he went to prison.
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