The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1859-06-02

on, cut from one piece ana anOJner
until the coat trimmings were all nicely
laid out. This done Mr.. Edwards
faced his customer again, rubbed his
hands from an internal feeling of de-
light, and said ~
You must have a handsome vest to
90 with this, of course"
"My vest is little shabby" replied
Jacobs, as he glanced down ward at a
garment which had seen pretty fair
service"
eff that's the best you have, it will
never do to go with new coat" said
Edwards in a decided tone. "Let me
show you a beautiful piece of black
satin." .a
And so the storekeeper went on
tempting his customer, until he had
sold him vest and pantaloons in ad-
dition to his coat. After that, he found
no difficulty in selling him silk dress
for his wife. Having indulged himself
in an entire new suit, he could not,
upon reflection, think of passing by
his wife, who had been wishing for a
new dress for more than six months.
"Can't you think of any thing else ?''
inquired Edwards. 'I shall be happy
to supply whatever you may want in
my line" !"
Nothing more, believe" answered
Jacobs, whose bill was already thirty
five dollars; and he had yet to pay for
making his coat, pantaloons and vest.
But you want various articles of
dry goods in family there is something
called for every day. Tell Mrs. Jacobs
to send down for whatever she may
need. Never mind about the money.
Your credit is good with me for any
amount"
When Mr.. Jacobs went home and
told his wife what he had done, she,
unreflecting woman, was delighted.
"I wish you had taken piece of
muslin," said she. awe want sheets
and pillow cases badly"
"You can getapiece, ,"replied Jacobs.
"We wont have to pay for itnow. Ed
wards will send in the bill at the end
Of six months, and it will be easy
SHOuSi W pay lOi IL liicH.
"Oh, yes, easy enough" responded
his wife confidently.
So a piece of muslin was procured
on the credit account. But things did
not stop here. A credit account is too
often like breach in a canal; the stream
is small at first, but soon increases to a
ruinous current. Now that want had
found a supply source, want became
more clamorous than before. Scarcely
a day passed that Mr. or Mrs. Jacobs
did not order something from the store,
not dreaming, simple souls, that an
alarming, heavy debt was accommodating
against him.
AS to the income of Mr.. Jacobs, it
was not large. He was, as has been
intimated clerk in wholesale store.
and received a salary of seven hundred
dollars a year. His family consisted OF
wife and three children, and he found
it necessary to be prudent, in all his
expenditures, i'll order ssto make both
ends meet" Somewhat independent in
his feelings he had never asked for
credit OF any one with whom he dealt,
and no one offering it, previous to the
temptation inducement hel out by Ed
wards, he had regulated his out goes
by his income. By this means he had
managed to keep even with the world;
though not to gain any advantage on
the side of fortune. Let us see if his
good credit has been of any real ser
vice to him.
1t was so very pleasant to have things
comfortable for a little display, without
feeling that the indulgence drained the
purse too heavily. And weak vanity
on the part of Jacobs was gratified by
the fattering opinion Of his honesty
entertained by Edwards the store
keeper. His credit was good, and he
was proud of the fact. But the day oi
reckoning drew near, and atlasti came
Notwithstanding the credit at the dry
goods store, there was no more money
in the young clerks purse at the end ol
six months than at the beginning. The
cash that would have gone for clothing
when necessity called for additions tc
/ the family wardrobe, had been spent
for things the purchase of which would
have been omitted but for the fact thai
the dollars were in the purse instead o.
in the storekeeper's hands and tempted
needless expenditures.
The end of the six months credit ap
preached, and the mind of Jacobs begar
to rest upon the dry goods dealers bill
and to be disturbed by anxiety. AS to
the amount of this bill he was in some
uncertainty, but he thought it conld
not be less than forty dollars. That
was large sum for him to owe, par
ticularly as he had nothing ahead, and
his current expenses were fully up tC
his income. 1t was now, for the first
time in his life, that Jacobs felt the
nightmare pressure of debt, and il
seemed at times as if it would almost
suffocate him.
i One evening he came home, feeling
more sober than usual. He had thouglr
of little else all day except his bill al
the store. On meeting his wife, he
saw that something was wrong.
Z" What ails you, Jane?" asked he
kindly. "Are you sick?"
"No," was the simple reply, Blu
her eyes dropped as she said it, and hel
husband saw that her lips slightly quiv
cred.
Il Sometime ia wrono. Jane" saiC