                              
                              The long straw
                              
     Mr. Mays reached for his wallet. It was gone. Quickly he looked through
  his  other  pockets,  in  his desk, in his coat. He went back to the front
  door of the building which he had entered  a  half-hour  before.  Then  he
  remembered.  He  knew  he had the wallet after he came to work.  He was in
  the office when he gave a dollar to his secretary toward a gift for one of
  girls.
     "The wallet must still be in my office," he thought to himself.
     He turned around and started back to his desk again. As he  opened  the
  door to his room, he took a short, quick breath. There on his desk was his
  wallet. He opened it to make sure everything was all right. The wallet was
  empty.
     "So,"  thought  mr.  Mays, "It has happened again. This time our office
  thief has gotten quite a bit of money."
     "I can call the police, which I think I should do, or  I  can  call  an
  office meeting, which I think I will do!" he said to himself.
     Mr. Mays pushed the button that called his secretary.
     When she heard the sound, she came into his office immediately.
     "Yes, mr. Mays?" she said.
     "Gloria, tell all the employees that we are having a meeting in room 3.
  There can be no excuse for not attending."
     "While  we are in the meeting, I want you to stay at your desk by front
  door and answer all telephone calls."
     "Yes, mr. Mays," answered Gloria.
     She had been mr.Mays' secretary for almost fifteen years,  and  nothing
  suprized her.
     "Meanwhile, Gloria, I don't want anyone to come in.
     Mr.  Mays walked up and down his office for about five minutes and then
  he went to the basement of the building. He  returned  almost  immediately
  with a broom.
     "May I help you, mr.Mays?" Gloria asked as he walked by her desk, broom
  is hand.
     "No,  thank you, Gloria," he answered, as he walked into his office and
  shut the door.
     "Is mr.Mays cleaning his own office these days?" asked Joey.
     "Apparently," Gloria smiled back at him.
     At eleven o'clock mr.Mays walked out of his office.
     He nodded to Gloria, saying, "Please stay at your desk now."
     When mr.Mays arrived at room 3, he glanced around quickly to  see  that
  all  the  employees  except  Gloria  were present. When he noted that they
  were, he began speaking.
     "It is difficult for me to inform you that my wallet  was  stolen  this
  morning by one of my own employees."
     A murmer went through the small crowd in the room.
