Francie’s supervisor who later marries Miss Armstrong. He then promotes Francie to Miss Armstrong’s former position as the city reader. He pays Francie much less than his other employees but gives her a raise of twenty dollars a week, which seems like a lot to Francie, though it is still less than what he would have had to pay one of the other file clerks for the same job. During the war, he loses most of his staff to the Civil Service and lays off those who remain. He, Miss Armstrong, and Francie perform the remaining work before he shuts down the bureau altogether.