And when the
gate did not at once swing open, he stepped lightly over it; and
singling out from all the furtively smiling males the head clerk, he
charged straight across the floor toward that important person's desk.
And the head clerk, who was also the head wit, took a peek at him
coming, and very politely said, "Pray be seated?" And, also very
politely, "From whence came you and what willst thou?"
The chuckling heads bobbed above the rows of desks. The head clerk
himself had to gaze window-ward to smother his smile.
"Gramercy, kind sir--"
"Gramercy? Eh, what? Gramercy?"
"Gramercy Park--you know where Gramercy Park is? Or didn't you ask me
where I came from?"
"Oh-h-Oh-h, yes."
"Of course, and I'm after a berth as pump-man on your oil ship sailing
to-day for the Gulf."
"And what, may I ask, do you know of our class of ships?"
"Only what I've heard--most modern oil-tankers afloat, and I'd like to
try one out--and sail the Gulf again, if you'll give me the chance."
"M-m--what are your qualifications?"
"Qualifications? For pump-man on an oil-tanker?"
"Pump-man--yes. And on an oil-tanker. I'm not hiring a rough rider, or a
policeman, or an aeroplanist--just a pump-man."
Through his open door the new superintendent caught the wink which his
head clerk directed at the second clerk. And caught it so easily that
the thought came to him that to share in the humor of the head clerk
may have been one of the recreations of his predecessor.
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