THE COURIER.
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The Little Gray Girl.
A Story of Misconceptions.
She won the heart of every man in
the room, I think, the first day that she
entered it. It was not a very large room
and the light and ventilation were
equally bad. To reach it, one climbed
three Mights of grimy, ill-smelling stairs,
and some of tho dust acquired in transit
clung to her neat gray dress and even
rested on her smooth, pale cheeks, as
she came in very timidly, and inquired
in low, bell-like tones for the managing
editcr.
.The managing editor, a mild-featured
and amiable gentleman who wore gold
glasses, had a desk in a corner by a
window; for, although the paper was
making money rapidly, the proprietor
was a person that believed in domestic
economy, and as a consequence, we
that ia to Bay, the whole editorial staff
were huddled togetner, some fourteen
of us in all, in this one apartment.
The bell like tones caused every one,
the managing editor included, to look
up. After the first look the beating of
fourteen masculine hearts and none of
them any too tender, at that was at
once accelerated. The newcomer could
not have been much over five feet in
height, but a daintier or more winning
presence could not possibly be imagined
She had big, appealing blue eyes, and
from beneath her becoming straw hat a
few bronze curls escaped rebellinusly.
Her figure was the very incarnation of
symmetrical daintiness. Her feet were
small and perfectly shod. In her neat
ly gloved hands .he carried a formid
able package of manuscript. Jorkins,
the Sunday editor, saw that the latter
was packed Hat, not rolled, and re
spected the lady accordingly.
The managing editor leaned forward,
and his courteously iuterrogative incli
nation brought the young woman to his
side. After a brief conversation be
tween them, carried on in tones so low
that what we overheard was fragment
ary, our chief, visibly interested, reached
out his hand for the manuscript. After
glancing over the first few pages, he
rose hastily, in great apparent excite
ment, and, begging his caller to accom
pauy him, led the way into the next
room, in which the chief proprietor of
the papor sat in state from 10 to 4. every
day. When the door closed behind them
the buzz broke forth.
"Scored a bull's eje the first time!"
"What the deuce has she got?'
"She's a winner all over, anyway!"
"The old man's mashed at last "
And so on. Some of the remarks
were even more flippant in tone, and
EJwards, the dapper little society re
porter, seemed to voice the general sent
iment when he expressed the hope that
if she got a steady job she would let him
make room for her beside him.
It was half an hour before the man
aging editor reappeared and proceeded
to bow his fair visitor out. The next
morning the tatter's "story' appeared.
It occupied a full page of the paper, and
made what Jorkins styled the hit of the
season. The young woman had been to
Cuba alone, on her own responsibility,
and the result of her work was a master
piece, both from a standpoint of liter
ature and of news. She had penetrated
where no other correspondent had pene
trated; she described battles and hor
rors that the world would never have
heard of but for her; she gave facts and
figures of incalculable value, and the
style of her narrative was simply per
fect; in the entire article there was no
flapdoodle, no attempt at pyrotechnics,
simply a cold and convincing array of
facts, and at frequent intervals a chap
ter of description worthy of the pen of
a Hugo or Carlyle. To say that she
afflicted the entire office with a stroke
of paralysis by her performance is to
put it very mildly.
None of us ever knew the amount of
money she received for her article. It
was whispereLthat "Tho Old Man" had
opened his heart and given her a check
for 81,000. What was more to the point
was the almost immediate installment
of Miss Laura Croisac in the ntlice as
"special writer." Most of up, moreover,
bitterly envied little Edwards, for ho
bad his wish, her desk being placed
next to his.
It was Edwards, in fact, who christ
ened her "The Little Gray Girl,"and tho
name seemed to tit her, so timid and
gentle were her ways, and so unobtrus
ive the manner in which she tilted her
self into the daily routine of the office.
The influence she exercised over us all,
too, was undeniably for our good. There
was no profanity when she was i'i tho
office, and one by one the fellowB took
to sprucing themselves up in order to
look their best in her eyes. Even Billy
Bradshaw, the sporting editor a youth
of herculean mould and bulldoggy vis
agebought himself a quiet suit of
clothes, and electrified us one day by
making his appearance in a white shirt,
his linen heretofore having always been
of the thunder-and-lightning variety.
But "The Lrtttle Gray Girl" was a
worker. Do not imagine anything else
for a moment. She would sit at her
desk and grind out "copy" in a steady
stream for hours at a time, and when
she looked up at the close of her work
with a satisfied smile on her tired little
face, it was impossible to do anything
but smile back at her encouragingly. I
got into the habit of watching her su
perstitiously over the top of my papers
I was the pxebange editor, you muBt
know and I used to wonder how so
fair and frail a little body could ever
hare withstood the hardships of that
wonderful Cuban campaign that she
had described so magnificently in her
first article for the paper.
It took about three monthj, as near
ly as I can estimate it, for "The Little
Gray Girl" to reduce every man in the
office to a condition of slavery most ab
ject and pitiful. It was nothing but
the impartiality with which she treated
us that made the situation in any way
tolerable. She had the same cheery
smile and pleasant word for every one.
She believed in reciprocity, toe. If
Jorkins gave her a bunch of violets one
day, she would trim his pencils for him
the next. When the managing editor
gave her theatre tickets she cut the
leaves of his books and arranged his
desk during his absence at lunch
eon next day. Edwards wrote some
paragraphs for her one afternoon when
she was overwhelmed with work, and
sne retaliated iu the evening by writing
for him a decidedly better account of a
wedding than he ever wrote himself.
But it was the colossal Bradshaw who
finally broke the spell, and rilled us all
with a raging jealousy that in some
climates would have resulted in his
being lynched.
He came in one day carrying a small
basket, and, lounging carelessly over to
Miss Croisac's desk, placed it carefully
upon it. The young woman came in
6hortly afterward and extracted from
the basket a funny, fuzzy little terrier
pup. After that it seemed as if she had
given her heart to the big sporting edi
tor in exchange for his miserable dog.
As foi Bradshaw. he had always been
something of a wonder. In a waj, he
was a perfect specimen of manhood, the
magnificence of his physique atoning
for his hard, square features. There
was a story abroad to the effect that he
was tht son or a rich man who had dis
owned him for some grievous fault; but
no one cared anything about that. The
mystery about him lay in his ability to
retain his position on the paper and
draw his salary regardless of any vagar
ies in which he might indulge. He was
an excellent workman when he chose to
work, but if he saw fit to absent himself
from the office for weeks at a time he
. twtvwwtt -rsro?-wrfTO-.0
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awaB-ags-sesas3S)a8s8gisjs)aisia'i
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The Indestructible "Maywood
r.. Most ieodn.
Most Rsliabte.
Most Durable
AND
STRONGEST
Vteel on Earui.
BICYCLE. TH,S 375.00 COM-
KLtlt aiCTULB
WITH COUPON. $
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Oct. 3. IKf).'; .Tan. 21. JS0G
.Iiii I I SSI." Oilier- IV, i. Hi"
The "Maywood" Is xti trnwet awl simp'tat ot-.7e :vcr matte. Adai u-rt t r .-ill kinds ot
road.-, and riders Made of rhatsrlal tist Is o, or unit inrj; simp.e in construction.
o-5ilr taken apart and pnt together: hsi few parts: is of such I ry construction that it part
wia hold tge ther even In an acci :ent: no hollow tubing to crush in at every contact: a frame
iu-t cannot lie broken; so bimple tiiat its adjusting part nerve as its connecting parts: a one-
!-.; crank :n place of a dozen pirts: always ready to give reliable mid rapid transportation.
Fit v improved doable diamond. KimranUed r three jer. Jlade of K-fnch cold
roiud st?el rods (tonghe3t and strongest metal for its weight known): joined together with
lamlunra btJtue tittlng.s In inch a manner that it is impossible to break or any part work
i-ie: a marvel or noveltv simplicity and tlnrablllir: the trrentct combination of IngennitT
1.1 b.cvcie mechanism known. tobn'.Ul a frame without brazct joints and tubinr.a yon knarr
.'ut framescontinually brcakan 1 tract-' r brazen joints, ains tube wlr n the are buckled
in cannot be repaired. IVH rirfj. 2-tnch: warranted wood rims pia: o wire ia:i-'tnt .-pokes
and brass nipples. 111'itS Large 1 rrcl pattern. Tll:K Arlington" liosrpipe or Jlor
e.n A- Wright (Jnlck TJepair. or so-nc otner first-class pneumatic t! r iti;Ait!N Hall
lu'srings to every part, including wheels, crank axle steering head and ix.dals. CTI' -.MJ
(KMtv-Uest quality tool s:ce , canriully tempered and hardened. IIAI.N"- High grade
I sriened centers, rear adjustment. CltANKS t!nr celebrated one-piece crank, fully pro
moted bv patent: no cotter pins. ICKCII Shortest. inches: longest U7 Inches. UKAK
i.orTJ. FUU.N'T KDKK Indestructible: for : crown made from gun-barrel steel. HANDI.K
i:lt Reversible and adjust d?: eall- 3. Justed to an position desired: rate's horn fur
nished if ordered. SAOIM.K V. At K.. liillirm. or some other first-class maxe "KHIj
I.at-trap or rnbber: fall bill bearing. FIMS1I Enameled in black, with all blight parts
nctel plated. Kach Bicycle complete with tool bng. pntnp wrench and oiler. Weight. c
conlineto tires, pe Ills, saddles, etc.. "27 to .: pound'
$10 is our Speei i '.Vlioles.ile i'rire. Never oeiure o.u
f r less. To qutcklv introduce the "M tjrwcoU" IJicycle. we
;ne ilecM'il to make a sfecial coupon ofTr. giving ever v
-ndcr of this pao:r a cnancc to get a first-cl 13s wheel at tlw
.owest price ever offered- On receipt of $Xi.m ami coupr.n
we vTi'l '.h'o t snvon the above IHcvcle. securely crated,
nnd guarantee sife deli";rv Monev -cfunded If not as
represented after arrival ami examination. We will ship
t O. I), with privilege of exauii cation, for S-6.00 and coupon
provided ..i) is ssnt with order as a guarantee of good faith.
A written binding warranty with each Bicycle. This Is a
chnce of a lifetime aad yon cannot afford to let the oppor
.nnity pass. Address all orders to
CASH BUYERS' UNION.
l6a West m Buren Street. Bx 19 17 CHICAGO. ILL.
mum pi yi
ri'TT r1!"!1 i1 I'i 'i"if -.
4 -
Cnunon Ne. 1947 a
JT GOOD FOB I
!S5s22!
4. !F SENT WITH .J.
4. ORDER FOR
J No. 5 Maywood J
...Bicycle...
