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Newspaper Page Text
fUJJHJWUJJ55 take time, as lie put it, and deliver the completed sketches the next morning at the office. "I'm a lucky man," chuckled' Dal ton, as he realized how nicely Ruth fitted into the proposition trustful, loyal Ruth, who was doing the bulk of the work for a pittance, work which was the sustaining feature of Daltons employment Dalton brought the notes to Ruth every evening and called for the fln- " ished biographies' in the morning. Many a time Ruth sat up half the night to be sure to have them ready in time. She was interested and con scientious in hee-work, but realized fully that she was doing it cheaply. It was a help to Dalton, though, she reasoned, and this good-hearted girl was satisfied. One morning the manager of the office called in Dalton. The latter, fully conscious of putting in really little time in his labors, expected an explosion. He was -agreeably sur prised. "Mr. Dalton," said the manager, "we are greatly pleased with your work and have decided to advance you." , "I thank you," bowed Dalton, perk ing up, as he always did when on safe ground. "We are able to secure larger sub scription results from your biogra phies than from those of any other man in the office." "I am glad," observed Dalton, swelling up. "It is your biographies that do the work," proceeded the manager. "They are fairly superb, Mr. Dalton! In fact, you are an expert in that line of literary composition. We have re ceived some very handsome compli ments from the subjects themselves, and, what is more practical, liberal subscriptions for the books. We will increase your salary 25 per cent and give you a Special list of selected mil lionaires, whom you seem so capable of handling." Did Dalton at once increase the , pittance of Ruth, as duty bound? Not at all1 The niggardly compensation, continued as before. What wag even, more despicable was that "'Dalton took another young lady twice a week to the theater and never spent a penny on the willing but unsus picious slave whose hard labors en- abled him to hold his position. Then came his Waterloo. He was again called into the manager's office. In 1iis new work, he was told his biographies had scored even larg- er success. The company ' had de cided to double his salary and engage. him in writing up biographies exclu sively, the other investigators to fur- nish the notes. There was no evading the issue, npw for Dalton. He could not for his life have written a presentable biog raphy. He could not deceive his em: ployers any longer. The young lady Dalton had been paying attention to had some means. He married herj resigned his position-and even forgot to pay Ruth one week's pay he owed her. f r Ruth was hurt at his treatment and disillusioned. She needed that last five dollars, but managed to get along without it. Then one day the heavens opened and she received her reward. It was strange how things came about, but one biography of a prominent citizen, deceased, had at tracted the attention of his son, who had succeeded to his business. The house issued considerable literature of their own, among the same a weekly trade organ. So attracted was young Cecil Browne by the con struction of the obituary biography of his father, that he asked "Dalton's former employer to se,nd him the writer. But Dalton had gone to anbther city. By the merest chance he had boasted to a fellow employee'of "the slick game he was putting over," mentioning Ruth as his innocent ad complice. She was located, and ac knowledged her authorship of the biographies. SfiSstessssa: nattttttyii