the office knew,
though she kept her conclusions out of the paper if they would do any
harm or hurt anyone's feelings. No pretender ever dreamed that she was
not fooling Miss Larrabee. She was willing to agree most sympathetically
with Mrs. Conklin, who insisted that the "common people" wouldn't be
interested in the list of names at her party; and the only place where
we ever saw Miss Larrabee's claw in print was in the insistent
misspelling of the name of a woman who made it a point to ridicule the
paper.

We have had other girls around the office since Miss Larrabee left, but
they do not seem to get the work done with any system. She was not only
industrious but practical. Friday mornings, when her work piled up,
instead of fussing around the office and chattering at the telephone,
she would dive into her desk and bring up her regular list of
adjectives. These she would copy on three slips, carefully dividing the
list so that no one had a duplicate, and in the afternoon each of the
boys received a slip with a list of parties, and with instructions to
scatter the adjectives she had given him through the accounts of the
parties assigned to him--and the work was soon done. There was no
scratching the head for synonyms for "beautiful," "superb" or "elegant."
Miss Larrabee had doled out to each of us the adjectives necessary, and,
given the adjectives, society reporting is easy. The editing of the copy
is easy also, for one does not have to remember whether or not the
refreshments were "delicious" at the Jones party when he sees the word
in connection with the viands at the Smith party. No two parties were
ever "elegant" the same week. No two events were "charming." No two
women were "exquisitely" gowned. The person who was assigned the
adjective "delightful" by Miss Larrabee might stick it in front of a
luncheon, pin it on a hostess, or use it for an evening's entertainment.
But he could use it only once. And with a list of those present and the
adjectives thereunto appertaining, even a new boy could get up a column
in half an hour. She had an artist's pride in the finished work, however
much she might dislike the thing in making, and she used to sail down to
the press-room as soon as the paper was out, and, picking up the paper
from the folder, she would stand reading her page, line upon line,
precept upon precept, though every word and syllable was familiar to
her.

During her first year she joined the Woman's State P