MR. GISSING
has been admitted to the firm in
the status of General Manager
Je Maintiendrai
__________________________

Mrs. Purp's excitement at this is easier imagined than described.
Her only fear was that now she would lose her best lodger. She
made Purp go out and buy a new shirt and a collar; she told
Gissing, rather pathetically, that she intended to have the whole
house repapered in the fall. The big double suite downstairs,
which could be used as bedroom and sitting-room, she suggested as
a comfortable change. But Gissing preferred to remain where he
was. He had grown fond of the top floor.

Certainly there was an exhilaration in his new importance and
prosperity. The store buzzed with the news. At his request, Miss
Whippet was promoted to the seventh floor to be his secretary. It
was delightful to make his morning tour of inspection through the
vast building. Mr. Hound, the store detective, loved to tell his
cronies how suspiciously he had followed "The Duke" that first
day. As Gissing moved through the busy departments he saw eyes
following him, tails wagging. Customers were more flattered than
ever by his courteous attentions. One day he even held a little
luncheon party in the restaurant, at which Mrs. Dachshund, Mrs.
Mastiff, and Mrs. Sealyham were his guests. He invited their
husbands, but the latter were too busy to come. It would have
been more prudent of them to attend. That afternoon Mrs.
Dachshund, carried away by enthusiasm, bought a platinum
wrist-watch. Mrs. Mastiff bought a diamond dog-collar. Mrs.