On Friday morning Mrs. Slayton said she would go over to the Hearthstone office, hand in one or two manuscripts that the editor had given to her to read, and resign her position as stenographer.

“Was there anything—­er—­that—­er—­you particularly fancied in the stories you are going to turn in?” asked Slayton with a thumping heart.

“There was one—­a novelette, that I liked so much,” said his wife.  “I haven’t read anything in years that I thought was half as nice and true to life.”

That afternoon Slayton hurried down to the Hearthstone office.  He felt that his reward was close at hand.  With a novelette in the Hearthstone, literary reputation would soon be his.

The office boy met him at the railing in the outer office.  It was not for unsuccessful authors to hold personal colloquy with the editor except at rare intervals.

Slayton, hugging himself internally, was nursing in his heart the exquisite hope of being able to crush the office boy with his forthcoming success.

He inquired concerning his novelette.  The office boy went into the sacred precincts and brought forth a large envelope, thick with more than the bulk of a thousand checks.

“The boss told me to tell you he’s sorry,” said the boy, “but your manuscript ain’t available for the magazine.”

Slayton stood, dazed.  “Can you tell me,” he stammered, “whether or no Miss Puff—­that is my—­I mean Miss Puffkin—­handed in a novelette this morning that she had been asked to read?”

“Sure she did,” answered the office boy wisely.  “I heard the old man say that Miss Puffkin said it was a daisy.  The name of it was, ‘Married for the Mazuma, or a Working Girl’s Triumph.’”

“Say, you!” said the office boy confidentially, “your name’s Slayton, ain’t it?  I guess I mixed cases on you without meanin’ to do it.  The boss give me some manuscript to hand around the other day and I got the ones for Miss Puffkin and the janitor mixed.  I guess it’s all right, though.”

And then Slayton looked closer and saw on the cover of his manuscript, under the title “Love Is All,” the janitor’s comment scribbled with a piece of charcoal: 

“The ——­ you say!”

XIV

THE ROADS WE TAKE

Twenty miles west of Tucson, the “Sunset Express” stopped at a tank to take on water.  Besides the aqueous addition the engine of that famous flyer acquired some other things that were not good for it.

While the fireman was lowering the feeding hose, Bob Tidball, “Shark” Dodson and a quarter-bred Creek Indian called John Big Dog climbed on the engine and showed the engineer three round orifices in pieces of ordnance that they carried.  These orifices so impressed the engineer with their possibilities that he raised both hands in a gesture such as accompanies the ejaculation “Do tell!”