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Show 'pij pj On The p Payroll llJ By Richard Hill Wilkinson IUD HAD SEEN the redheaded girl in Mr. Jones outer office every day for a week. He himself was a copy man, and If she were after the same job that he wanted I it would compli- 3 -Minute cate things. It Fiction w:ouId CV hs chances of success suc-cess in half, and It would be rather embarrassing because well, because he thought she was an awfully pretty girl and he liked the way she held her chin high and tried to appear brave. On Monday of the second week, the redheaded girl dropped her handbag. Its contents con-tents spilled all over the place. Jud helped pick them up lipstick, lip-stick, a bunch of keys, a pawn ticket! Jud's lips tightened when he saw that. Just as he thought she's had to pawn something in order to live. Of course the handbag episode gave him the liberty of talking with her. Without half trying, he got her story. It was just as he figured. A sad tale of deprivation and lost hope. If only she could see Mr. Jones. She knew he needed a stenographer sten-ographer and she really was awfully awful-ly good. A determined light came Into Jud's eyes. Ignoring the protestations of the switchboard girl, he burst through the railed-in space, crossed it in two bounds and threw open the door to Mr. Jones' office. ' Mr. Jones was sitting at his desk, smoking a cigar. He looked up with a startled expression when Jud entered. en-tered. He had heavy jowls and a shock of grey hair and belligerent, bushy eyebrows. The cigar fell from his mouth. He stood up. Before Jud could utter a word, he barked: "Your name Jud Essex?" "Yes, sir," said Jud, taken aback. "I'll be damned!" exclaimed Mr. Jones. "Did she tell you who she was?" "Did who tell me who who was?" Jud asked, beginning to think he was mistaken for some one else. "My daughter! That redheaded girl in the outer office?" It was Jud's turn to drop a cigar, if he'd had one. "Your daughter? That the girl who wants a job E3 a stenographer?" Mr. Jones came round his desk. He was short, but rotund. He glared up at Jud. "You're hired," he said. "I lost a bet, so you're hired. But you'd better make good, or you're fired. Get that!" "Shut up! Do you want the job, or don't you?" Mr. Jones stalked out of the office. of-fice. A man came in another door j v ''.i ' L: .. .. "Of course, I'm serious. I made a bet with Dad that I'd marry you." and told Jud to follow him. "Kate always wins," the man said. "Here's your desk. Kate wants you to go to lunch with her this noon." JUD SAT DOWN, speechless. "Do you mean am I one of several who have been hired in this fashion?" fash-ion?" Jud passed a hand through his hair. The man left. Jud sat clown at his desk. He tried to straighten things out in his mind, and was beginning to get places, when Kate entered. At lunch Kate said: "Would you like to marry me?" "Sure," said Jud, grinning weakly. weak-ly. "All right then. Eight after work. I'll be waiting." She was, too. He wondered what was next. He found out. She took him to a minister's. She produced a license. li-cense. Jud tried to grin. He gulped and stared at her. "Good lord! You're not serious about this?" Jud suddenly no longer had the feeling that he liked all this. "Now listen," he said. "I can't marry you. In the first place I don't love you. In the second I think you and your old man are crazy. And in the next place, I'm already married mar-ried and have three kids!" Mr. Jones called Jud on the phone the next morning. "Mister, you're still working for me if you want the job. I won a bet from Kate, and it's cured her of her screwy notions. Come on down. Your salary's doubled." |