Page:The Girl Who Earns Her Own Living (1909).djvu/35

 The day came when this girl was taken ill. Her substitute, selected from the main office, was a woman of thirty, the talkative kind. The third day after her promotion, the wife called the lawyer up by telephone during the noon hour. The substitute stenographer answered-as follows:

"No, Mr. J. is not in. He has gone out to lunch. No, I don't know where. Oh, is this Mrs. J.? Well, of course, I can teil you. He has gone out with Mrs. Bull, the woman who owns those big mines in Nevada, whose case your husband has just taken."

The old stenographer would have answered briefly that Mr. I had gone out to lunch and would not be back until two. The absolutely unasked and unnecessary information furnished by the new girl caused a domestic cyclone. The husband's privilege of showing courtesy to an important client was questioned, and when he resented interference on his wife's part, she actually went to the client's hotel and made a scene. The lawyer lost his client, the Western woman lost the services of a capable attorney, and the wife lost her husband's respect—all because a silly, talkative woman of thirty did not appreciate the fact that silence is a golden gift.

Another girl lost an excellent position through just such futile chatter. Her employer