Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1870-08-03
TIE PARSIMONIOUs CLERK,

Weston" said Mr.. Dayton to one of hi.
clerks As they were alone in the spacious
counting room which was attached to the
large store of which Mr.. Dayton was pro
rrietor, give me leave to say that | don
think your dress sufficiently genteel to ap-
pear as clerk in fashionable store"
A deep blush suffuscd the face of the
young man, and in spite ofhis endeavor to
repress it, a tear g!isicned i'll his full, black
eyes
Did | not know your salary was .uffi-
cient to procure more genteel habiliments,
would increase it.
My salary IS amply large, SIR" replied
Weston, with a mortified air, but with that
proud independence ef feeling, of which
even poverty had not been able to deprive
him.
''Oblige me, then, by changing your ap
pareL, aud presenting different appear
anee in the future You are wanted in he
store. Weston turned and left his en-
ploy=r who muttered as he took up his
paper How | detest these parsimonious
fellows. Mr.. Dayton was a widouer, and
had but one child, a daughter, who was the
pride Of his declining years. She was good
as an angel. and beautiful as she was good
She was simple in her taste and appear
aRce.
Such was Laura Dayton when Weston
May first became an inmate of her fathers
hons. ,r1 vLs ,ro,ior =, :. H., h. -o,
learned to love her with an ardent affection.
Their tongues never gave utterance to what
they fell, but the language of their eyes
cJu!l not be mistaken. Weston va. the
very soul of honor, and although he per
csIved with pleasure that he was not dis
tasteful to her, still he felt that he must
conquer the passion that glowed in his own
heart.
i must not win her heart" he said to
himself; - | am penDiiess, and her father
will never consent to our union" Thus he
reasoned, and thus he manfully endeavored
to subdue what he considered an i'll fated
passion Laura had many sui;ors, and some
were worthy of her. but she refused them
with decisive yet gentle frmness.
Her father wondered at her conduct but
would not strive to alter her inclination.
tie was in the decline Of life and wished to
Sc, her happily settled ere he departed from
thS world. 1t was not long before he sur
missed that young May was the cause of her
indifference to others. The pleasure she
took IN hearing him praised, the blush
which mantcd her face when their eyes met,
served to convince the old gentleman that
they took more than common interest in
each other. He forbOre to make any re-
mark upon the subject, and was not so dis
pleased at the thought as Weston imagined
he would be.
Weston May had now been three years in
lis employ. Mr.. Dayton kr ew nothing of
his family; but his strict integrity, good
morals and pleasing manners conspired in
Masking him esteem Weston more highly.
lie pI-ceI unbounded confidence in him and
vas very proud of him. He wished him to
to dress as well as others, and had often
wondered at the scantiness of his wardrobe;
Tor although Weston dressed with the most
seiupulous regard to neatness, his clothes
vas almost threadbare, which Mr.. Dayton
thought proceeded from a niggardly dispo-
At'on, and accordingly he addressed him
upon the subject as before related.
Soon after this conversation Mr.. Dayton
'slt home On business. As he was riding
through pretty little village, he alighted
al the door of cottage and requested a
ofinS OF water. The mistress, with an ease
-na P0iIteness which told that she had not
a-'ay' been an humble cottager, invited him
10 enter He complied, and a scene of neat
Ness and poverty met his gaze, such as he
N-l never before witnessed. The furniture
consisting of nothing more than was actual
y Necessary, was SO clean that it cast an air
u! comfort all around. A venerable old
man sat by the window with his staff in his
hand His clothes were whole, but they
'eemeda counterpart of Joseph's coat of
many colors.
lhls is your father, I presume, said
Ne addressing her.
It's, SIR
lie seems quite aged"
lie Is in his eighty-third year, and has
survived all his children except myself"
Have you always resided here ?''
No, sir, my husband was once wealthy,
Uu' endorsing ruined him and We were re-
uaeed to this. He soon after died, and two
N! children followed him."
have you any children living ?"