St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-02-23

set him to work, and, so saying he lett
the room. J.
Mr.. jackson did as he was told. He
gave me quantity of things to copy, eve
ry line of which puzzled me by the extra
ordinary terms it contained words which
[ never heard before, and which, [ am
confident are not to be found in Johnson's
Dictionary. did as I was told, though
if you had asked me what I had done at
the end of the day, certainly could not
have told you, except that was eternally
writing something or other.
My fellow clerks were good naturcd fel-
lows, though their coats were evidently
built by third rate tailors, and their neck
ties were more striking than tasteful
They were not very ignorant either; and
though they knew nothing about the mat
ters l was most cup" in-such as the pri-
vate history Of Madame Spinnini, the great
douseuse, and the real story about the
Dnkc of Dumps and Signora Salonica, of
the italian Opera, &C., &C., still they were
not badly informed about matters Of histo.
ry, geography, statistics, and political af-
x *
Six months passed. I had worked ev-
cry day like horse-or like a clerk; I
had conquered all the difficulties of the of:
fee; I understood my business, and was
rising into Importance.
During the whole of this time, [ had seen
nothing of "The Man over the Way" He
had mysteriously vanished the very day af.
ter I last parted with him, when he sent
me to the Office. The people at the house
where he lod ged declared they did not know
whittier he had gone, but he had paid his
rent, and they spoke of him with great re-
spect
"Mr Plastic" said old Sniggles, when I
entered his room one day with some Office
work had just done, "will you dine with
me to day? Ny daughter will be glad to
Could I Ibelieve my own ears? How the
words thrilled throug gh me! Iaccepted the
invitation, of course, but in what terms I
do not know. I was so hustcred, that, for
the first time during ny clerkship, made
several hlunders in my work that day. At
FIVE o'clock, Snjggles entered our Office,
and; asking if I was ready, we walked off
together. We did not talk much, fortu-
nately for me, confused rs / was, for we
rode in an omnibus
When we reached Snigglcs's house
that house that I had been forbidden to
entcr-how my heart beat! How would
Julia receive he? ? Could I act the part of
a mere friend with propriety? What
should do? was already in the draw
ing room.
"Julia," I exclaimed in spite Of old Snig-
giles himself: She rushed forward and I
caught her in my arms.
"Very pretty, indeed!' said old Snig-
giles, smiling quite benignantly on us.
"What does it all mean p [ ez claimed
'.She's yours, my boy-she's yours"
said old Sniggles, almost whimpering as he
spoke: "you're man now, and you de-
serve her; she shall be your partner for
life if you'll have her; and, by Jove, sir,
you shall be my partner too, if you like"
I was overjoyed, but still bewildered.
"The truth is, Charles" said Julia, eve
owe all this happiness to my fathers kind
ness, and the interest of my own maternal
uncle. Since our separation he has been
my confdant; and he promised that he
would make it his business to forward INV
happiness. He wished to see you what he
calls worthy of me'-that is, man of bu-
siness. He determined to watch you, and
even to call on you; but believe you say
ed him the trouble of doing that. My fa-
ther agreed to all his plans; and both con-
fess that you have gone through your pro-
baton nobly. My father has told you So.
Let me now present you to my uncle an
old acquaintance of yours"
She smiled as she said this, and led me
into the next room, where my hand was
Immediately afterwards warmly seized by
-"TnE MAN OVER THE Way"
BEAnDs.-I have seen it stated some-
where that there is an intimate c0nnection