Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 204, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 August 1910 — Discharged Without Notice [ARTICLE]

Discharged Without Notice

By Henry Crider Evans

The slow, drizzling rain which had steadily fallen since the early part of the afternoon and which threatened to continue to fall during the rest of the evening, was not more dismal and dreary than the heart of the girl who shrank back in the corner seat of the elevated train, gazing through the clouded window panes with dull, unseeing eyes. She was dressed in a shabby black dress and jacket; her shoes were worn and her hat had the look of being made and remade from one dated many years before. Mollie Orth had left home that morning with but 15 cents in her purse, her hopes raised high, and a feeling in her heart that she would succeed this time. She smiled at the conductor as she handed him her fare, 6miled at th» little girl sitting in the seat across from her tenderly hugging a bedraggled doll In her arms; indeed, smiled at every one she saw, for Mollie was decidedly an optimist, and so surely as failure and worry and heartache laid her spirits low, just so surely would they rise again with the beginning of a new day. All morning she wandered down street after street, vainly seeking employment After awhile the smile left her lips and the song died out of her heart. Gradually, her limbs grew more and more tired, until at last her feet refused to carry her farther and, entering the waiting room of a large department store, she sank into a chair and wearily closed her eyes. The matron, a neatly-dressed woman with a kind, motherly face, glanced at the girl with understanding and sympathy in her eyes. The story was so evident and such an old one! “Wouldn’t you care to glance over this paper while you are resting?” asked the matron, handing her a newspaper with a smile that conveyed encouragement and sympathy to. the girl’s heart. Mollie grasped it eagerly, murmuring her thanks. As the woman expected, she turned at once to the “help wanted” page and hastily scanned its columns. There was but one ad. which she could answer, but even this was a ray of hope which she eagerly seized upon. It was raining when she reached the street, but although she had no umbrella she started all undaunted for the address given in the paper. It was ten long blocks from the store which she had left and she was thoroughly drenched by the time she reached her destination. Approaching the office boy she inquired for the manager, and was pointed out a large, heavily-built man seated behind a huge desk, his head bent over a heap of papers. “Well, what can I do for you?” he asked sharply as Mollie stood patiently awaiting his attention. The girl timidly stated her errand, answering his numerous questions with straightforward honesty. “Well,” he said, at length, “you don’t look overstrong, but guess you’ll do. W T e expect good work from our people, and If we can’t get it out of them we don’t keep 'em —that’s all. Where are your references?” “I haven’t any,”"began Mollie, tremuously. “I never thought to ask for any at the last place I worked in.” The man scowled as he waved her aside with a’fat, pudgy hand. "No go, no go. No reference, no job. Why didn’t you say so right away instead of wasting all my time?” “Oh, cried Molly, in dismay. “Only try me, sir! 1 will ''work hard, you will see how fast my fingers can fly. Please, please give me just a trial! I need the money so badly.” The man turned resolutely to his desk. “Can’t do It, I tell you. We don’t do business that way.” Mollie walked blindly out of the office and was once more on the street. Feeling faint she determined to spend half of her last dime for a cup of coffee. She entered a cozy little restaurant, following the usher to a table near the end of the room. Mollie paused long over her coffee, drinking in its sweet fragrance and feeling a delicious sense of comfort as the strong liquid sent a flush of warmth. through her body. She rose regretfully when her cup was empty, and made for the cashier’s desk, which was overcrowded, the people standing in line to pay for their checks and the cashier herself nervous and hur- , ried. Mollie laid her check, which called for five cents, upon the desk, together with her solitary dime, and was given five brand-new pennies in change. How bright they looked and how they shone, almost as If they were made of Bold, she thought, as she walked I slowly down the street Why, one was different from the rest! Surely It was not a common penny! Hastily turning it over in her hand, she saw that she was holding, not a penny, but a $lO gold piece! “Take it back! It isn’t yqprs, and It will be dishonest to keep it,” whispered a voice which seemed so real that she started and glanced apprehensively over her shoulder. What a struggle she had to put that voice in the background. This meant bread and meat to her, food for the little aisters at home and peace to the worried mother, whose hair was fast becoming streaked with gray. She could not give it up, she would not! A feeltag of fierce exultation possessed h

Her feet fairly flew up the steps leading to the elevated station, the bit of gold clutched tightly In hew hand. The cashier at the turnstile glanced up in surprise as Mollie’s trembling fingers dropped the piece of money before her. “Have you no smaller change than this?” she asked, then as Mollie nodded her head, she carefully count. ed out the change. How many times MOilie’s resolution weakened and faltered that night! As she met her mother’s eager, questioning glance as she entered the door; as she saw the look of blank despair in her eyes as she faltered out her failure, her heart misgave her, and she longed to pour the money into her mother’s thin hands, telling her that there was enough for food and clothes, warmth and comfort until she could secure a position. Again, at the supper table, as she helped herself to a dried piece of bread and one small, mealy potato, the temptation to keep the money grew almost too strong to resist. The next morning found her once more entering the little restaurant. She noticed a new girl in the cashier’s place, and her heart sank in shame. She Inquired for the manager, and was shown into a little side room to a man bending over a table figuring up accounts. He was about thirty, tall, broad-shouldered, with the , kindest brown eyes in the world, she thought. Timidly she handed him the change she had received from the gold piece and told her story. Then all at once she found herself crying softly, as she poured out the whole story of the struggle and temptation she had endured. ‘There, there; don’t cry any more. It’s all over now and you have won a victory to be proud of. Now listen to my proposition. Miss Johnson, our former cashier, has been suffering from extreme nervousness for a long time and was only waiting for the end of the season t.o give up work entirely until her health was once more restored. The final straw came last night, when she discovered the shortage in her accounts, and she insisted upon making up the loss to us, although we protested strongly against her doing so. Then she left, and we had to place one of our waitresses temporarily in her place. It will give me much pleasure to return this money to her, and also to offer you her position. We will give you $lO a week to start. Will you take it?” Mollie mutely nodded her head, her eyes shining with happiness. Ten dollars a week! That was more than she had ever earned before. Eager to prove her gratitude, she bent all her energy to her work, schooling herself to become more rapid and accurate each day. Often, looking up from her work, she would find Mr. Asher, the manager and owner of the restaurant, watching her with a look in his brown eyes which she could hot understand. She could always feel his presence, knew when he entered the room and when he left, a feeling for which she could not account. On evening, after the last customer had departed, and the doors were closed for the day, as she was making out her report, he came oyer and stood beside her desk. “Miss Orth, you have been with us two years now, haven’t you?” he asked. Mollie replied in the affirmative. “You are receiving a salary of sls a week now, are you not?” he asked again, and again Mollie nodded. “Well, Miss Orth,” he began hesitatingly, “we feel that you are worth more than we are paying you, although we cannot afford to raise your salary any higher, therefore I am going to ask you to resign your position.” Mollie gasped and stared. at him with eyes filled with surprise and dismay. Asked to resign her position! What could she have done to deserve it? Her accounts always balanced evenly; she had supposed her work was giving complete satisfaction, and now, without warning, she was to be discharged. “Don’t feel so badly over it. Miss Orth. I am going to offer you another position, one which I trust you will not refuse. It Is that of housekeeper to a lonely, solitary bachelor. Mlsb Orth, will you be my wife?” Mollie gazed at him and then, just as she had done two years before, when he had offered her the position, she laid her head down upon her arms and burst into tears. “Mollie! Little girl, don’t you care? If you only knew how' I have hoped and prayed that you did. Would you rather keep your position here, and have me give up my ‘castle in Spain,’ and go away. For go away I must, if you refuse me. 1 could not bear to stay here, to be near you day after day, and know that my hopes could never be realized! Tell me, Mollie, which shall it be? Don’t cry any more, little girl, look up and tell me.” Mollie did look up, and the tears in her eyes only made them look brighter with joy and happiness shining through them as the sun behind a cloud. -1 “Oh, you ask me if I will marry you!” she cried. “It you only knew, If you only knew!” The words, few as they were, were sufficient, for her eyes told the rest.