Photoplay (Feb-Sep 1917)

Peggy Roche: Saleslady 23 Siefert was the only one of the three Georges who took his feet down. "All hail, Miss Roche!" he said, the lines in his face creasing into a wrinkled grin. Peggy went forward. She was conscious of the constraint in the other men's attitude. "I hear we've got into a regular happy hunting ground," said Drunimond. "Yussouf Pasha's buying everything. By the way, what was your line, Miss Roche?" "Anything and everything," said Peggy. "You don't specialize?" inquired George Hagan, looking at her blandly. "Now I .sell wool goods and nothing but wool goods." "I've got lines in fly swatters, sun helmets, insect powder, rifles, shells, water-bottles, haversacks, and saddlery," said Peggy, assuming an innocence which seemed to tickle the three men immensely. "Well I guess they want fly swatters out here," said George Hagan, shooing a winged pest from the top of his bald head. "Say, Miss Roche, if I was you I'd go see Yussouf at the Palace. Maybe he'll buy a dozen for each of the soldiers of the Egyption expedition." "Haw, Haw !" roared the other two. "Now that's a good idea," said Peggy. "I believe I will, Mr. Hagan." "Sure. And likewise insect powder. Lord, Miss Roche, you got us all beat sure for inventiveness." Peggy turned away. As she went back into the hotel she was conscious that the three men were whispering together. And, passing through the dining-room behind the verandah, she was positive that she heard the word "blankets." 'T'HE three men were hand in glove, as ■*• All had said. They had pooled their interests and subdivided their lines, rather than bid against each other, to meet the rapacity of the local Pasha. But Peggy, representing a little one-horse concern, was beneath their notice. She had seen the looks of amusement which had passed among the trio when she revealed that .she was a traveller in war goods. And it did seem out of place, only Jim Byrne had had a hard struggle with his bicycle factory and Peggy was resolved that they should be millionaires before they married. She had persuaded him to let her go to Europe, and he had yielded, at first reluctantly, then with the American's faith hi the unfailing capabilities of the American girl. But as yet Peggy had sold nothing. Worse than that, nearly all her samples were held up at Malta, while the firms represented by the three Georges had their goods actually ready for delivery, slipped through the thick blockading line to Jaffa in Greek vessels always ready to run the risk of capture with the high freight rates existent. Jim had scraped togeth'er six thousand dollars, by borrowing, by giving notes, by inducing friends to invest in his new scheme. He knew that in these days of hit or miss contracts samples were next to useless. And Peggy had one thousand army blankets which would represent a clean-up of five thousand dollars, safely stored away in Malta, with no possibility of their being discharged until the endof the war. DlJT there must be blankets to be had in Jaffa or Jerusalem. She determined to see Yussouf Pasha immediately, to beat the Georges in their field. It is not difficult for a woman to gain admittance to the Palace in any Turkish vilayet, especially if she ' goes veiled. Twenty minutes after the conversation upon the porch, Peggy, in the full attire of a Turkish Hanomn, which the discreet Ali had procured for her, was passing unchallenged between the two sentries at the gate of Yussouf Pasha's official residence. The little Greek secretary who was summoned by the perplexed major domo knew how many matters of importance are spread through feminine agency in the East. He admitted her to the Pasha's office at once and Yussouf Effendi, happening to have finished the day's official duties, looked up with interest at the pretty Turkish girl who suddenly threw off her veil and displayed unmistakably Caucasian features. "Your Excellency," said Peggy, "I — " The Pasha shrugged his shoulders and turned to the secretary, who lingered beside him. "I speak English," said the little man. "What is your business?" "I've got some blankets to sell — one thousand," said Peggy. "And I can deliver as many more as the Pasha wants inside of two months." The secretary translated. The Pasha smiled and said something in Turkish.