A CHRISTMAS TEST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18946, 17 December 1929, Page 3

A CHRISTMAS TEST.

By

James Paulden.

(Author of “ The Human Touch,” “ How Vickers Goc His Start,” Etc.). [Copyright.]

FOR three weeks, in September, a brass plate—one of the many brass plates at the street door of the chambers—had informed the public that Colin Campbell was a solicitor. As an advertisement it lacked pulling power. No client had called. There was no reason why they should. There were enough lawyers, with established reputations in Barrowford, to deal with the legal business of the town. If Colin preferred the. bolder course of setting up his own office instead of doing hack work for an established solicitor and ultimately creeping into a partnership—well, that was his own funeral. He was writing an article—a legal article—-for the Press, in an attempt to raise part of the next month’s office rent, when the bell rang. The caller was a tallish girl, with a face which, had she been an actress, would have smiled at the public from all the newspapers. She was neatly dressed: her costume was appropriate for business, and she gave her name as Miss Lee. Colin ushered her in with a welcoming smile on his pleasant, capable-look-ing face. He invited her to the clients' chair on the opposite side of the flattopped desk to his own chair, but she remained standing. “ I saw your plate,” she explained, “ and I thought you might need a stenographer. I’ve been trying so hard to get a situation. I’ve never had a situation, but I’m fully trained. I should be glad to submit to a test, Mr Campbell,” she concluded, with a glance at the typewriter. “I’m sorry, Miss Lee, but I’m a solicitor without clients. “I’m poor. See,” he added, -with a burst of candour. “I’ve just finished an article which, I hope, will help me to pay the rent of the office.” “Oh, let me type it for you?” “ I couldn't think of allowing you to do that without paj-ment, and—well, I suppose we both understand what it is to be hard up.” “ It would be the test,” she urged. “You will get clients. You will do ■well, and you will require a stenographer. Please let me show you my capabilities.” She pleaded so effectively that he had to give way. She did the work four times as fast as he could have done it. “ I suppose you intend to send a letter with the manuscript? Dictate it, please,” she said, with pencil and a sheet of paper ready. When the letter and the envelope were typed, she rose and said: “Unless I get a situation. I’ll just look in every day. There might be odd jobs to do, before you could employ a stenographer regularly.” “ Really, Miss Lee, I can’t impose upon your generosity.” “ I shall take the of calling unless you forbid me.” " How can I forbid you, after your kindness " ** I’m glad. Mr Campbell. Good morning * Now he foit gloomier than before her

visit. Would business ever come to him? He would like to be doing something, not only for his own sake, but to employ her. It was a shame that she was out of a job, I-Ie caught himself wondering what her circumstances were.

His own position was not good. His father and mother had died within a week of each other, just when he was ready to leave the grammar school to go to college. There were three thousand pounds. His education and training had lessened his inheritance, and, at the time he set up his office, he had a hundred a year. For three days Elsie Lee called in the afternoons, but the only work was the typing of articles he had written. Each time she stayed a little longer as the acquaintance rapidly ripened. At ten the next morning the office bell rang imperiously. Colin hurried to the door and admitted a stout, hearty, prosperous-looking man of fifty, with a commanding air and presence. With a searching glance he took in the room, barely furnished with a minimum of a lawyer’s necessities. He noted the lack of even an office boy. Filling the client’s chair, he offered Colin a cigar and lit one himself. “ My name’s Wainwright—Silas Wainwright of Ollerton Castle—perhaps you have heard of me! ” Colin had to make an effort not to betray his astonishment. Silas Wainwright was world famous. He had been called the English Henry Ford, though he did not make cars. The garden city of Hazelmere, ten miles from Barrowford, was his creation. He paid wages on the American scale, and his products were cheap. Mass production—efficient organisation. He was a captain of industry of the best type. He had declined the title of Lord Hazelmere. “ I am honoured by this visit, Mr Wainwright. May I venture to hope that you require my professional services?” “ I do. You will be aware, Mr Campbell, that poor people often suffer from legal injustices because they are afraid of. the law—afraid of the expense. Now it has occurred to me that a free lawyer—a poor man’s lawyer—would serve a very useful purpose in a large town like Barrowford. “ I am prepared to offer you the post at a salary of a thousand a year to begin with. Of course, I should pay all other expenses. You will want a stenographer and an office boy to begin with, and perhaps a larger staff later. I want your ideas on the matter.” For an hour they went into the details of the scheme. Substantially it was to be for the benefit of the non income tax-paying public, though exceptions might be made in special cases. If a case demanded a barrister, Colin was to employ him. Silas desired to remain anonymous. There must be no poaching of legitimate business from other lawyers. That afternoon Elsie was radiant. “I’ve got a situation in an office at thirty shillings a week. Oh, I shall be delighted to earn my own living.” “I’m glad. Who are your employers ? ” She told him. “Is there anything to I do?”

“Yes. Take this letter down, Miss Lee. Messrs Mappin and Webb, Metal Brokers, North Street, Barrowford.” She was surprised. They were her employers. “Gentlemen, I desire to inform you that, since accepting the position of stenographer in your offices . . .” The pencil stopped. “Really, Mr Campbell.” “Carry on, Miss Lee . . . circumstances have arisen which compel me to decline the position . . .” “Mr Campbell 1 What are you doing?” “Full stop. I hope this will not cause you much inconvenience, and I thank you sincerely for the appointment. \ ours truly . . . You will sign that letter yourself, Mis.s Lee, because you are now my stenographer at three pounds per week. It took a time for the business to get into its stride but, when it did, Colin and Elsie were kept busy. Silas Wainwright was delighted with his first report. The friendship between the lawyer and his stenographer ripened. Two months had passed when he showed her that picture in his morning paper of Silas Wainwright and his daughter. Elsie. “She is your double, Miss Lee,” he said, with a smile. “Yes. We are remarkably alike. But don’t you think she is a little plumper than I ? Ten-course dinners, I expect. I shall never have a frock like that,” she added with a sigh. “Beauties both,” he said.” _ From that moment she observed signs of a quicker growth of that which made her heart thrill and exult. There was a light in his eyes and a quality in his smile that said infinitely more than the words of the conventional morning greeting. Without becoming inquisitive, he had shown great interest in her life. They had compared tastes in literature and art. The crisis came one morning three days before Christmas. “Miss Lee,” he began, in tones that were hard and strained. “I hope what I am going to say will not offend you, but I must speak. I have held back for several weeks because, if I have made a mistake, it may make you uncomfortable as my stenographer. Elsie, I love you. Will you be my wife?” “Oh, Mr Campbell, I—l ” “Pardon me if I have—l didn’t intend ” “Oh, it’s not that. It’s—it’s ” “You are already engaged.” “Oh, no. I like you You have been very good to me. Really, it has carried me off my feet. And—and I’m a working man’s daughter, and you should look higher.” “Rubbish!” “It’s not. What will your friends, say? I should hate to drag you down. I like you too well. Give me time to think it over. And please, Mr Campbell, don’t mention it again until you have my reply.” “I shall respect your wishes, Miss Lee. But I must tell you this. I, have loved you ever since the first day you came here, but I’m so dull that" I didn’t know it until a few weeks ago. Please remember that in my favour.” Fortunately there was not the normal pressure of work that morning, and after dictating a few letters he invented some outside business that would occupy him all day, so that his presence would not distract her. The next morning a deputation of three working men called. Colin invited them to state their business, but they stared at Elsie and seemed uneasy. They whispered together.

■“Don’t be afraid,” said Colin. “Everything is in strict confidence.” “We can’t go on with the business with the lady here,” said Dan Todd, the spokesman. “But she must be present to take shorthand notes of the proceedings.” “She’s Elsie Wainwright, and the matter concerns her father, Silas Wainwright.” Colin laughed. “You are mistaken. I admit that they are wonderfully alike, but she is Miss Lee. Can you imagine Silas Wainwright’s daughter working as a stenographer?” Elsie smiled at the deputation. “You don’t know me. I have never seen you before.” The deputation had to accept that, and stated their business. Silas Wainwright had closed a footpath that the men who lived at Dobb Cottages used in going to and from their work. They could go round by road, but it took them half an hour longer. The footpath was not greatly used by the general public, but there had been a right of way for many years. They could find many witnesses. That was the substance of the case. The proceedings took a long time. Colin promised a decision later. “It would be a bit of Christmas comfort to us,” said Dan Todd, “if you could give us a decision to-morrow.” Colin promised. That show of legal caution was only to gain time. Obviously, it was a case he ought to undertake, lput it was against Silas Wainwright—his employer.

He was astonished that the millionaire had done such a thing. And Mr Wainwright seemed thoroughly determined about the matter. He had refused to see a deputation, ignored the letters they had sent; and posted his gamekeepers, with guns, to prevent the workmen knocking down the fences he had placed across the footpath. In the inner sanctum, beyond the consulting-room where Elsie worked, he plotted out the footpath on a map. It ran close to Ollerton Castle, the millionaire’s residence, but it was outside the walled-in grounds and quite inoffensive. It looked like an act of wilful spite against these working men; and there had been no trouble between them. He had inquired about that. The action did not square with what he knew of his employer’s life and character; he gave so munificently. Of course, he could find out by an inquiry from his employer, but . . . Suddenly a new idea grazed his mind. Was it a test? He looked up the typed copy of the rules which had been drawn up to guide and govern his activities. - - and to undertake the just causes of the poor, without fear of or favour to anyone.” That was the clause by which he could justify his action in undertaking the case. If it were a test, he would lose his job if he didn’t undertake the case. If it were not, he would probably be dismissed for bumping into his employer. It was a blind plunge in either case. And on the threshold of the season of “ Peace on earth, good w *ll rnen ’” h e thought, bitterly. All that day, in addition to the constraint his proposal had placed between Elsie and himself, the gloom cast oyer the office by his worry, damped Christmas anticipations. Even the office b ? y u- felt S. 100m y about the prospects °^rp lls Christmas tip. The next morning Elsie noted that he was paler than usual, but his mouth was set and firm. Miss Lee. I am going to tell you I something that must be kept secret, bilas \\ aiuwright is my employer. This |

is one of his charities. lam going to bring an action against him about that footpath. That may mean that I shall be dismissed. I’m glad you have not replied to my proposal, and I hope you will allow me to withdraw it until I know what my position is.” “ Colin! ” she cried, and she was radiant. “ I shall not. I love you. I am going to be your wife.” “ Elsie! ” he I shall be a poor man. I’ve only a hundred a year.” “ Colin, I’m yours through thick and thin. As an honourable man you can’t withdraw—you can’t jilt me now.” He took her in his arms. Their lips met. “ I don’t care who gets your wealthy double,” he said. “ I’ve got you. My Christmas present,” he added, tenderly. “And you are mine, Colin. It’s going to be a wonderful Christmas for That night he left the office with her for a Christmas Eve interview with her father. “ I thought you lived in Atherton 1 Street,” he said, when he saw that she was taking him to the station. “ We removed to Ollerton recently,” she replied glibly. Outside Ollerton station a Rolls Royce was waiting, and the chauffeur was holding the door open for her. “ Get in,” she commanded, and urging him with a gentle push, she followed him. “What does this mean, Elsie?” “ Wait and see, sir.” " But, Elsie, I insist ” “ It’s Christmas, Colin—the magic season.” They passed through gates, through extensive private grounds. A footman bowed them into Ollerton Castle; servants attended them in the hall, where Christmas garlands hung. Elsie led him into the library. A stout man was standing with his broad back to the fire. “Father!” she cried, running to him and kissing him. Colin gasped. She was Silas Wainwright’s daughter. “ Mr Campbell has come to ask you an important question.” I know the question, and my consent is given. I’ll look through the window while you kiss each other. Never mind the mistletoe.” A minute later the millionaire called: “ Sit down, and Elsie will explain.” Things were happening that were more fitted to a dream than to reality. Colin had expected a boarding-house Christmas, and he was at Ollerton Castle. “ When I was going to the elementary school, you were going to the grammar school. I saw 3'ou every day, and you were my ideal. Father was then a working man, and you were far above me. One day a girl fell into the river and a boy rescue . her. Neither was any worse for the ducking and, the next day, she gave him half of a penny ring—the half with the glass rujj>y in it.” “ Elsie! ” Colin gasped. “I’ve never thought about that ring for years, but I have it.” Elsie smiled. “ I followed your career. I saw that you were doing nothing as a lawyer, and—Oh, father, you tell the rest.” “ She told me she loved you and—well, she can wheedle anything out of me. I don’t care a rap whether she marries a duke or a commoner. In fact, I’m fed up with titled fortune hunters. I agreed to the match providing you were proved worthy of her. The poor’s man’s lawyer was her idea. She had learned shorthand and t3'pewriting to do private work for me.

She hung about your office to make sure she would get the job. “ When she won your love as a stenographer I was satisfied, but I had conceived the idea of the footpath business as a second test —it was merely a frameup, as you will realise now. Elsie agreed, confident that you would follow your instructions. Your proposal was just soon enough to enable uj to time all the rest for Christmas. Colin, my lad, with her for your Christmas present, your Christmas here should be a merry one.” The End.