The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-05-01
THE LEFT SLIPPER.

one uTdWiuS Out iIOM uHucI
the sofa of my sitting-roonfa small
slipper fer a left foot but if ever
there was D lady be she a Cinderella
or Susannah, who had a smaller foot
than this would fit, l should like to
see her, that'ssaH'H 10 = .
L sat down again to my coffee and
ham, and wondered however it could
happen that Mrs. PottIe, n worthy
and obsequious landlady, should have
allowed the slipper to have been over
looked in the thorough cleaning
she had assured me salways took
Eplace between the exit and entree of
her different sets of dodgers ;yet here
it wasss The shining of the soft,
bronze,colored leather had attracted
my eve as the sun lit up the ~abysssbe-
| meath the sofa and now, what must [
! do withIit? Perhaps, after all, it was
| Mrs. Pottle's own; but l laughed at
| the idea of her elphantine foot find
ing entrance there:a perhaps at be-
ionged to a child or grandchild; but
it was not a probable Interpretation
of the mystery. 1t could surely not
be kept under the sofa for an orna-
ment; and yet how should such a
thing as one slipper not be missed,
if the owner possessed two feet?
E3However. the little, innocent. look
ing slipper, fit to- case a very fairy's
foot, lay there and destroyed my peace
of mind as I looked at it: My read
ers may laugh at me as they choose
but / will frankly confess that while
some men fall in love with a bunch
of curls, a pair of eyes, q smile a
head a voice, [ was, before breakfast
was half over, head and ears in love
with a slipper. 1t was folly-non
sense. of course; but SO it was. PHI
losophers would say it was the form
that my imagination conjured up as
the real owner of the slipper; but I
don't care to, be- so particular,lI be-
lieve I fell in love with the slipper
itself. Such a pretty thing it looked
and felt as I turned it oyer, in my
hand, with its silken sandals, and ro-
settle of blue, and its neat lining of
white silk a dainty little article, in
deed, perfumed with a soft sweet odor
of roses, that all its long isolation
from It's sweet mistress had not wholly
destroyed. s. Z ~ 2 4
/ heard Mrs. Pottle ascending the
stairs with my letters, and hastily put
the slipper In my coat-pocket. | had
that / would be guilty of
theft, if theft it was, ooner than part
with my new treasure. = ! The landlady
entered, Letters, sir, if You please,
Thank YOU" I answered coolly.
and let her go again; thought longed
for the history of her previous lodg-
thought she eyed me Jsuspi-
but, of course, / was mistaken;
and I turned and finished my break
fast, and then broke open the envel-
opes of my letters.
1 ring the bell Mrs, Pottle enters
have kept these lodgings some time,
suppose, Mrs. P~ottle?"
Law | yes, sir she. answers, stop
ping short in the general gathering
together of plates and dishes (; nigh
upon twenty years. Through my poor
Samuel being taken off early, sir, I
obliged to begin at forty Now
I'm turned sixty, sir; though some do
said Mrs. Pottle. with a smile,
/. that they hardly can think It's more
than a few years ago / began,-I'm SO
the same.
There they are right,"vI said,
to propitiate MRS. ottle,-f-
you might asIwell.pass for fifty, and a
young looking woman at that; but,
however, what sort of people do you
mostly get here,-young men like /
I'm, in merchants offices, or some-
hing of that kind ?" ~ GAA7 *
We'll, yes sir; first and last,
I've had some scores Of clerks
r,,r-A~ 81. ~ - ~, r,<r .wE z1&% II T. II
t isn't always so; but there's one
'oung ma n-nearly the first l ever
"a ~
I did cot exactly want a twenty
ears list of dodgers, SO / interrupted
he worthy soul by saying, But who Il
you bad lately?-who was the
asst now, before | came?" ,DKISI
"A curious old coup.ev sir 9 5 you
sOldf' gaspsd IL I
Mrs-Pottle did not, | suppose, s
lotice my agitation, but replied, u
Yes, sir, the gentleman about sew
nty.fve, l should think and the /
ady might be a year older or younger
mot mnchl. ACKNOWLEDGMENT themTbs
But / beglyour pardon-that's your
sir" And MraaPettlc sdisaps'
with the tray, Just as the horn
nd qlfe rattlfng wheels were distinct
heard, nearing the terrace. / put
n my hat mechanically, and went '
own Stairs, vexed With the abrupt 1
ermination to her recital. As | t
ode along the thought struck me !
hat the whole affair was a trick, and ]
hat Mrs. Pottle- wanted to f
ind me to the spot or make me inter $
sted in her house. or iinveigled in 4.
ONE foolish love affair. This decided r