VOL. XtV. NEW BLOOMFIELD, PA., TUESDAY, OOTOBEH 1U, 18B0. NO. 12.
THE TIMES.
in Independent Family Newspaper,
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A GIRL'S STORY.
I GUESS pa and ma were pretty rich
one time, for when they came to
California it was on their wedding tour
and cost lots ; they came by way of New
York and Washington, and Panama
City in a steamboat, and ma brought a
maid to wait on her, and pa had a black
feller named " Jim," and when they got
to California pa had lots of money. I
was born at the Lick House, and you
ought to see my baby clothes. Jones &
Co. haven't the kind of goods them waB,
because Maud has draggled thetn all to
pieces. Maud is the baby. Six years
old Maud is, and it won't be long before
she will be a clerk in Jones & Co.'s
store. First babies always have the
nicest things. Ma said first babies are
like second wives. Bui I keep getting
away from Jones & Co.
Well, I am of the opinion that after
pa bought his house on Van Ness
avenue, he went into stocks, whatever
that means. Going into stocks must be
a very curious business, and sometimes
pa came home looking splendid, and
wanted to buy everything, and laughed
at ma for being so mean, and not getting
better clothes, and then he wanted to
drive in the park and go to the theatre.
One day he came home with a bran new
carriage and a span of long-tailed horses,
and a negro coachman, and a funny
little darkey for footman. It was for
ma, and we rode every day. Then
sometimes pa came home and looked
very blue, and talked about stocks, and
I began to watch pa, and noticed that
sometimes when he laughed the loudest
he looked just as if he wanted to cry,
and then he sold the horses, and then
ihe house, and the furniture was sent to
auction, and ma she felt very bad, and
pa wasn't like himself any more, and
never told me stories nor kissed me ;
and once when baby Maud was asleep
in his arms, he kissed her and cried, and
when I told ma, she said she gusssed pa
did not feel very well, and that I musn't
notice it, and then she cried.
After this we went to a boarding
house a nasty, musty boarding-house.
Everything was well enough, only a
boarding-house ain't like home.
Then the baby came, and it died, and
ma almost died, and I heard pa say to
the man that kept the boardlug-house
that "he was pretty tight up, but it was
all comln' out right," and the next day
pa didn't have any watch, nor any
sleeve buttons. I didn't seem to notice
it because I seen that maybe pa had sold
them to pay board, and I heard pa and
ma talk away into the night, and some
times ma cried, and pa would look in
the morning just as if he hadn't slept a
wink, and I don't believe that he had.
Once it was dreadful. Pa come home
tipsy, and I never seen ma feel so bad,
never ; and then they talked it over,
and finally ma went home to grandpa's,
in New York, with Maud, and I stayed
with pa to go to school.
Then pa kept getting worse and worse,
and we went to live in rooms and eat at
restaurants, and pa stayed out late of
nights, and I guess he drank more than
was good for him and I thought some
thing had to be done. Bo I said to pa
one day :
" Pa, less go into business and open a
store."
And he laughed and said: "What
kind of a storey"
Audi said: "Oh, a candy store, or a
stationery store, or a thread and needle
store, Just such as women keep and
little girls help In."
And pa laughed and said he would
think of it, and when he came home
that night I asked him If he bad
thought about it, and he said he hadn't,
and I said he bad better, and lie said he
would, and that morning he didn't go
out, but stayed at home and wrote ma
along letter.
Bo next day I went Into a store on
Polk Btreet, kept by a nice lady who
had a bad husband, where they sold
everything, and she said in France they
called It lingerie.
I didn't know what that meant be
cause it was French, and I asked her If
she didn't want to sell her store, and
she said :
" Do you want to buy a store, little
girl V"
And I said : " My pa does." And she
smiled and she said she guessed the
sheriff would have a store to sell in a
few days, and I said I would tell pa,
because he knew Mr, Nunan the BherifT.
It was one of Mr. Nunan's men that
sold pa's horses and furniture for him.
And the next day I told pa about the
store, and what a nice one it was, and
he said he had been a dry goods man
once, had a large store, and sold silk
dress goods, and velvets and furs and
laces, worth ever so much a yard, and
India shawls worth more than a thou
sand dollars apiece.
I don't know exactly what pa did, but
I think something " turned up" a few
days afterward, for I heard him Bay he
had made a "raise," and he showed me
more than a thousand dollars in gold,
and for a day or two he carried it in a
side pocket, and mostly kept his hand
over it for fear it would jump out and
fly away ; and pa bought me some shoes
and a hat, and stuff for aprons, and I
made them myself, and I never saw pa
look so happy since ma went away ; and
one day he said to me :
' Vevie, I have bought the store on
Polk street, and you are to be my sales
woman and partner."
And sure enough, in a few days we
went into the store, and over the door
was a great big Blgn of " Jones & Co."
and pa Bald I was the " Co." And when
I said, "and so, pa, you are 'Jones,' " he
blushed and I guess he didn't like his
old friends to know that he was Belling
needles, and thread, and tape and
things.
We had two snug little rooms in the
back of the store to sleep in, and I made
pa's bed and swept out the rooms, and
tidied things. At first pa shut up the
store when he had to go down town on
business, but after a while I tended it
and when there were customers in the
store I waited on one, and it was not
long before I could make change . and
sell things and add up almost as good as
pa could ; and by and by when he went
down town I tended store, and we had
splendid times. We went out to a nice
place across the street for our meals. I
tended store when pa went and pa tend-'
ed store when I went.
One day pa came in and looked dread
ful troubled, and when I said, "Pa,
ain't I a partner, and don't partners
have a right to know everything, and
ain't you hiding something about Jones
& Co V" And then I found out that pa
had bought too many things for the
store, and that a note for a thousand
dollar had to be paid, and there wasn't
any money to pay it with, and that's
what made pa feel bad. And then I
thought and thought, and wondered
how I could get a thousand dollars, and
I kept on thinking over everybody that
I guessed had a thousand dollars, and
every one I guessed had It I guessed
wouldn't let it go to pa.
And then I thought about Mr. Flood,
and said, " I'll go down to his bank and
get It, for he's got more than a thousand
millions, and down in the Bank of
Nevada the cellar is full of gold, and of
course he don't wan't to use it all the
time, and I'll borrow a thousand dollars
for pa, and before Mr. Flood wants It
I'll take it back to him, and pay the
interest."
And then I jumped up and hurrahed
for "Jones & Co.," took my best bonnet,
and took oft my store apron, and comb
ed my hair, and got into a car and went
to the Nevada Bank, and told the clerk
I wanted to borrow a thousand dollars ;
and he laughed and said he "guessed I
had better see Mr. M'Lane." And' I
asked who Mr. M'lane was. The clerk
said M. M'Lane was the president, and
was in the back room, and I went into
the back room, and Mr. M'Lane said :
"Well, little girl, what can I do for
your"
"And I said : " I want to borrow a
thousand dollars."
Mr. M'Lane opened his eyes, and
twisted his chair round, and looked at
me, and said, "A thousand dollars!"
with as much surprise as though a
thousand dollars was all he had in the
bank. Then I began to get scared and
cry, and then I told Mr. M'Lane all
about pa and "Jones & Co.," and what
we wanted to do with the money, and
that I would pay It back to him; and
he looked kind 'a puzzled, and asked
me what my pa's name was, and all
about ma, and Maud, and how the baby
died. I guess that was not very much
like business, and I don't know what
Mr. M'Lane wanted to know all that
for. Then he looked at me again, and I
guess he wasn't going to let me have
the money, when a geutlvman at the
other desk came up to where I was
sitting on a chair, and Mr. M'Lane
said:
" Well, Flood, what do you think of
this young merchant V" Anil then I
knew it was the rich Mr. Flood ; and I
looked into his cyeB, and they kind of
laughed, and he Bald :
" Let her have the mouey. I will en
dorse the note."
Then I jumped up and kissed him,
and he kissed me back, and Mr. M'Lane
made a note for nluety days, and I
signed it "Jones & Co.," and Mr. Flood
wrote his name on the back of it. I
took the money away in a canvass bag,
that Mr. M'Lane said I muBt bring
back, and I took the money to pa, aud
didn't he look surprised when I poured
out the great big gold twenty dollar
pieces on the counter ?
Then I told him what happened at
the bank, and when I asked him if he
didn't think I was a pretty good busi
ness woman after all, I guess he felt real
ashamed.
In a few days a beautiful carriage
drove up to the door, and a nice young
lady came In aud bought nearly twenty
dollars' worth of things. I never sold so
many goods to any one person before,
and the young lady was real kind, and
helped me to add up the bill. I saw pa
didn't offer to help me at all, and looked
kind of comical when she and me was
puzzled over the figures to get them all
right. The nines troubled me dreadfully
in adding, and bo I have got in the way
of making figures either fives or noth
ing, so they will add up easier. When
the young lady drove away, I went to
the carriage and saw the letter " F" on
the panel and on the harness. " F,"
said I to myself, " I wonder who it can
beV" I should have thought it was
Miss Flood, only she hadn't any dia
monds in her ears or on her fingers, and
was dressed only just nice and plain ;
and I said, "of course it wasn't Miss
Flood."
After this, I never saw anything like
it such lots of carriages and such nice
ladies kept coming every day, and most
all of them traded with me, and pa was
just as pleased and happy as he could be.
"Jones & Co." were making lots of
money.
When I took Mr. Flood's money
back, I just marched right through the
bank, past the big counters, into Mr.
M'Lane's room, and took very good
care to let the clerk that laughed at me
before, see the bag. Mr. Flood was in
there, and Mr. M'Lane and I opened the
bag and turned out the money on Mr.
M'Lane's desk, Mr. Flood came up and
laughed, and Mr. M'Lane laughed, and
I heard Mr. Flood tell Mr. M'Lane they
would have that champagne lunch to
day. And then Mr. Flood told me if I
wanted to borrow money again not to
go to any of the other banks, but to
come to his, and I thanked him, and
Mr. M'Lane brought me my note, can
celled by a great blue "Paid" stamp
across the face, right over where I wrote
" Jones & Co." Then I told Mr. Flood
that perhaps when we felt able to send
for ma I should come and borrow some
more money, because I wanted to buy a
house for ma and Maud, so that they
wouldn't have to go Into any more
nasty boarding-houses, and Mr. Flood
said I should have all the money I
wanted.
Then we sent for ma and Maud.
Grandpa gave ma the money to come,
and so we didn't have to borrow any
more ; and we took a nice cottage, not
very near the store, for pa didn't want
ma to know about " Jones & Co.,"
though I was just crazy to tell her.
For Beveral days we fooled her. Bhe
thought pa had a store down town, and
I was going to school. I told lots of fibs
about being detained at school, going
down town and all sorts of stories to
account for being home late.
One day who should I see coming Into
the store but ma.
" Have you any pearl shirt-buttons,
little girl V" said ma.
"Yes, ma'am," said I, looking her
right square in the face.
" Goodness gracious!" said ma, "Is
that you Vevie V"
I Bald i "Beg pardon, ma'am, what
did you want V" And then ma looked
at me again.
I had a store apron on, and a small
cap like a French girl, and because I
wasn't very high, pa bought me a pair
of wooden brogans, with felt on the
bottoms, into which I slipped my feet,
and they made me about four or five
Inches taller. And ma stared at me,
and then laughed and said :
" Oh I I beg your pardon, little girl.
You look so much like my daughter
Genevieve that I thought you was
her."
Then I heard pa snicker down behind
the counter; he had seen ma come in,
and hid. Just bb soon as ma went out
pa jumped up and laughed, and said :
"Snatch off your apron and cap,
Vevie, and run round the block and get
home before your mother."
I did, and when ma got home she was
the most surprised woman you ever
seen. We knew this thing couldn't
last, and so that night we told ma all
about the house of "Jones & Co.," and
ma kissed pa, and said he was a "splen
did, noble fellow, and just as good as
gold," and that she "never was so proud
of him in all her life," and fell to kiss
ing him and to crying and taking on.
I never saw ma act so foolish In all her
life, and pa said she "was making love
to him over again."
Well, now, the story is about over.
Ma came down to the store to help. At
first she looked kind 'a sheepish, especi
ally when eomo lady came in that she
had known at the Lick House; but
soon she got over all that, and began to
make bonnets, and we had a milliner
store ; and then she insisted upon saving
the expense of a separate house, and we
moved into a larger store next door,
with nice rooms fixed up to live In, and
a nice show-window for bonnets, and
little Maud is beginning to be handy
about, and all of us work, and we are
Just as happy as the day's long, and we
have lots of money.
I have never seen Mr. Flood but once
since, when I went down to the bank
unbeknown of pa, and I told Mr. Flood
and Mr. M'Lane that any time they
wanted to borrow a thousand dollars,
"Jones & Co." would lend it to them;
and they laughed, and I said " they
couldn't tell, stocks might go down ;"
and then Mr. Flood said, " if all the
people he bad given and loaned money
to would pay it back as I had, be didn't
think he would get busted in a long
time."
And then I saw the clerk that laughed
at me, and I smiled at him and bowed,
and since then he has been buying all
his gloves at the store. I told him I
thought he used a great many pairs of
gloves, and he said they wore out very
fast counting the money. He is dread
ful particular about his gloves, and if
there is nobody in the store but me he
is sometimes half an hour picking out
Just the kind he wants. .
Pa has bought a splendid gold watch
a real stem-winder and we Jones &
Co. have bought a nice lot out on Gov.
8 tan ford's new cable railroad, and I
paid for it, and if times are good this
summer, as pa thinks they will be, we
shall have a bouse of our own again,
where we shall live in peace, die in
Greece, and be buried in a cake of
tallow.
The Right Woman In the Wrong Place.
NO particular attention was paid to
her when she came into the office
lots of the women come into the office
for corrections and one thing and an
other, and so when this lady sashayed
up to the table around which six scribes
were grinding out information, she
stood for the space of a minute glaring
upon the force with a scowl upon her
not altogether classic features.
"You might ask a lady to take a
chair," she snapped, with an ugly look
ing gleam in her eyes.
The blueglass man aroused himself
and watched a blue-bottle fly that had
been Inserting lis fangs into his bald
head all morning, slowly wing Its way
out of the window Into the calm, autumn
sunlight. Then with a look of pain he
brought his gaze to bear upon the lady
he said :
"Cert, madaiue, cert. Take two
chairs."
With a vicious Jerk the visitor seized
a chair, plumped into It, knocked a
paste pot off the table with an overgrown
parasol that resembled an umbrella, and
exclaimed :
"Look here I I've got a boy I"
The blueglass man laid his pencil
down and regarded the lady thought
fully. "That's all right," he said at
length, " I presume you are a married
lady?"
" Yes, you bald headed bulldozer, I
am a married lady 1" shrieked the
woman, hitting the tin telephone a
whack with her parasol, "and you bet
your dollar that if my husband, Mr.
M'Gregor, was home from New Orleans
It wouldn't be two minutes till he would
clean out this office I"
" Oh, I don't know," observed the
blueglass man, scratching his head irri
tably with a paste brush, "I don't
know. There was a man come from
Memphis once especially to clean us out,
but he was knocked down four flight of
stairs and had his skull fractured, and
was sued, and is now making shoes in
the penitentiary. Something of that
kind might happen to M'Gregor, you
know."
"I know this," howled Mrs. M'Gre
gor, " I know that I don't want you to
badger me. I won't have it. I came
here for satisfaction about the boy, and
I'm going to get It." And Mrs. M'Gre
gor got up, walked around the table, sat
down again and breathed hard.
" What boy ?" asked the blueglass
man.
" My boy."
"Whereabouts?" i
Mrs. M'Gregor eyed the blueglass man
viciously. Bhe secured a tighter grip on
her parasol and screamed ; " For two
pins I would hit you with this parasol.
You can't play with me. I am too
smart a woman. Do you pretend to say
that your paper didn't publish an item
yesterday that John George M'Gregor
had upset an apple stand, gone through
the till and had been sent to jail ? Do
you mean to say that you didn't pub
lish this base libel on my son ? You
villain I"
"I don't know anything about John
George M'Gregor, and I don't want to
know anything about him," sard the
head of the blueglass department. "We
never published a line in regard to him,
although I have no doubt that if be is
not la jail he ought to be. I am very
positive, however," continued the blue
glass man as he arose and kicked a
waste basket across the room, "that if
you yawp around here much longer I'll
have you bounced."
"Look here," shrieked the lady, "Isn't
this the Commercial Gazette f"
" No, it Isn't."
"Well, then I'm wrong. The Com.
mercial Gazette wretch is the man I
want to lay my eyes on, and If I find
out he's the fellow who put the piece in
about my John George I wouldn't stop
much to batter his nose to a jelly," and
then Mrs. M'Gregor knocked a whole
row of empty ink bottles off a shelf for
spite, and walked out with the remark
that she would lick the Commercial
Gazette man if she had "to go to the
cooler for it."
tU"8ir John Herschel has declared
that "if he were to pray for a taste
which should stand under every variety
of circumstances and be a source of hap
piness and cheerfulness to him through
life, It would be a taste for reading."
Give a man, he affirms, that taste and
the means of gratifying it, and you can
not fail of making him good and happy;
for you bring him in contact with the
best society in all ages, with the tender
est, the bravest, and the purest men who
have adorned humanity, making him a
denizen of all nations, a cotemporary of
ail times, and giving him a practical
proof that the world has been created for
him, for his Bolace,ud for hU enjoyment.