Ion on his face. Saturday afternoon was always a half-holiday, to be
sure, but since she had weeks of freedom when he was away--However-- At
two o'clock Becky Tietelbaum appeared at his door, clad in the sober
office suit which Miss Devine insisted she should wear, her note-book in
her hand, and so frightened that her fingers were cold and her lips were
pale. She had never taken dictation from the editor before. It was a
great and terrifying occasion. "Sit down," he said encouragingly. He
began dictating while he shook from his bag the manuscripts he had
snatched away from the amazed English author that morning. Presently he
looked up. "Do I go too fast?" "No, sir," Becky found strength to
say.
At the end of an hour he told her to go and type as many of the letters
as she could while he went over the bunch of stuff he had torn from the
Englishman. He was with the Hindu detective in an opium den in Shanghai
when Becky returned and placed a pile of papers on his desk. "How many?"
he asked, without looking up. "All you gave me, sir." "All, so soon?
Wait a minute and let me see how many mistakes." He went over the
letters rapidly, signing them as he read. "They seem to be all right. I
thought you were the girl that made so many mistakes." Rebecca was never
too frightened to vindicate herself. "Mr. O'Mally, sir, I don't make
mistakes with letters. It's only copying the articles that have so many
long words, and when the writing isn't plain, like Mr. Gerrard's. I
never make many mistakes with Mr. Johnson's articles, or with yours I
don't." O'Mally wheeled round in his chair, looked with curiosity at her
long, tense face, her black eyes, and straight