"There are five upstairs in the envelope and one here ready to address," replied Quincy.
"Her address," continued Alice, "is Miss Emma Farnum, care Cotton & Co., Real Estate Brokers, Tremont Row."
Quincy went to the table, wrote the address as directed, and tied the envelope with the string attached.
"I am afraid the other letter cannot be so easily answered," said Alice. "Look at the signature, please, and see if it is not from Bessie White."
"It is signed Bessie," said Quincy.
"I thought so," exclaimed Alice. "She works for the same firm that I did."
Quincy read the following:
"My Dear May:—I know that you will be glad to learn what is going on at the great dry goods house of Borden, Waitt, & Fisher. Business is good, and we girls are all tired out when night comes and have to go to a party or the theatre to get rested. Mr. Ringgold, the head bookkeeper, is disconsolate over your absence, and asks done or more of us every morning if we have heard from Miss Pettengill. Then, every afternoon, he says, 'Did I ask you this morning how Miss Pettengill was getting along?' Of course it is this devotion to the interest of the firm that leads him to ask these questions."
Alice flushed slightly, and turning to Quincy said, "Are you smiling, Mr. Sawyer? There is nothing in it, I assure you; Bessie is a great joker and torments the other girls unmercifully."
"I am glad there is nothing in it," said Quincy. "If I were a woman I would be afraid to marry a bookkeeper. My household cash would have to balance to a cent, and at the end of the year he would insist on housekeeping showing a profit."