Booksellers and bookselling -- Fiction; Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) -- Fiction; Mystery and detective stories
They drank it with due gravity.
"Well, good people," said Mr. Chapman, "there's nothing we can do for
Bock now. But we can do something for the rest of us. I've been
talking with Titania, Mr. Mifflin. I'm bound to say that after this
disaster my first thought was to get her out of the book business as
fast as I could. I thought it was a little too exciting for her. You
know I sent her over here to have a quiet time and calm down a bit.
But she wouldn't hear of leaving. And if I'm going to have a family
interest in the book business I want to do something to justify it. I
know your idea about travelling book-wagons, and taking literature into
the countryside. Now if you and Mrs. Mifflin can find the proper
people to run them, I'll finance a fleet of ten of those Parnassuses
you're always talking about, and have them built in time to go on the
road next spring. How about it?"
Roger and Helen looked at each other, and at Mr. Chapman. In a flash
Roger saw one of his dearest dreams coming true. Titania, to whom this
was a surprise, leaped from her chair and ran to kiss her father,
crying, "Oh, Daddy, you ARE a darling!"
Roger rose solemnly and gave Mr. Chapman his hand.
"My dear sir," he said, "Miss Titania has found the right word. You
are an honour to human nature, sir, and I hope you'll never live to
regret it. This is the happiest moment of my life."
"Then that's settled," said Mr. Chapman. "We'll go over the details
later. Now there's another thing on my mind. Perhaps I shouldn't
bring up business matters here, but this is a kind of family party--Mr.
Gilbert, it's my duty to inform you that I intend to take my
advertising out of the hands of the Grey-Matter Agency." Aubrey's heart
sank. He had feared a catastrophe of this kind from the first.
Naturally a hard-headed business man would not care to entrust such
vast interests to a firm whose young men went careering about like
secret service agents, hunting for spies, eavesdropping in alleys, and
accusing people of pro-germanism. Business, Aubrey said to himself, is
built upon Confidence, and what confidence could Mr. Chapman have in
such vagabond and romantic doings? Still, he felt that he had done
nothing to be ashamed of.
"I'm sorry, sir," he said. "We have tried to give you service. I
assure you that I've spent by far the larger part of my time at the
office in working up plans for your campaigns."
He could not bear to look at Titania, ashamed that she should be the
witness of his humiliation.
"That's exactly it," said Mr. Chapman. "I don't want just the larger
part of your time. I want all of it. I want you to accept the
position of assistant advertising manager of the Daintybits
Corporation."
They all cheered, and for the third time that evening Aubrey felt more
overwhelmed than any good advertising man is accustomed to feel. He
tried to express his delight, and then added:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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