John was called in to clean up the muss, and after a while Ethel could resume her seat. Nothing of importance upon her desk had been spoiled by the ink but the supply order sheets, and fortunately Jim Mayberry did not come out of the private office until it was all over. It was Ethel’s business to see that the order was promptly sent. It was her fault that it was delayed. Never before in her business experience had Ethel Clayton deliberately done such a thing. She was acting upon her own initiative and in a way that scarcely measured up to her ethical standards. Yet how should she meet guile save with guile? On the way home that evening Benway was bewailing the fact that Mr. Barton was not in the office so that he could see how well he, Benway, was fitting into the routine of the office. “Even Mr. Mayberry admits I can do the work all right,” the boy said hopefully. “He said as much yesterday. But I don’t like the fellow, Ethel. I don’t like the way he looks at you.” “‘A cat may look at a king’, Bennie,” she said lightly. “But no dog like him should look at a queen, Ethel,” Benway Chase retorted with a smile and a little sigh. “They are all tarred with the same brush, Ethel. Every man that comes into the offices wants to hang over your desk and palaver.” “Hush, Ben! How you talk!” she exclaimed, a little flushed and annoyed. “I declare I’ll have you sent out into the shipping room to work if you watch me like that.” “Pooh!” he laughed. “Is the honey at fault because the bees buzz around it?” “How poetical!” she scoffed. Yet she was secretly displeased. She did not like to think that the men she met in business hours gave her more attention than matters relating to business called for. The one man whose admiration she would have been glad to secure had never, while he was with them, shown any particular interest in her. Ethel was too introspective for her own comfort. She wondered all the evening if the thought that was budding in her mind was germinated by her desire to see Frank Barton. Was it for business reasons that she determined on her course? Or did she have another and more personal desire to speak with the general manager of the Hapwood-Diller Company, face to face? However, she considered that the duty had devolved upon her to take a drastic course. The order for new stock for the factory could be delayed only forty-eight hours through the accident to the first draft of the schedule. Instead of its reaching its destination on Saturday, Ethel saw to it that it was not mailed until after noon on Saturday. Therefore it would not be received by the dealer to whom it was assigned until Monday. Meantime---- She astonished her mother on Saturday evening by announcing that she proposed to go to Quehasset on the early train Sunday morning. By this time the railroad was running excursion trains to the officers’ training camp on Saturdays and Sundays. Quehasset was becoming a popular week-end resort.