The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-08-28

ment that she was extremely nervous
and really i'll, then sought her friends
retreat, and disposIng Of her tired body
on the lounge, began TO talk Of busi-
ness.
"Did you ascertain the value Of my
jewels ." queried Alice.
'I did. | took them to an assayer,
who pronounced them worth - guess
how much ?"
twenty-five hundred dollars"
''Guess again"
Twelve hundred.n
"Oh, you're farther off the track than
ever. He says they'll bring at least
four thousand.n
Alice clapped her hands In delight.
"We'll astonish the natives this fall,
won't we 90 she cried, as she exhibited
two real marvels OF complex millinery,
made from Frank Leslie model that
had caught her fancy.
'But am puzzled 10 know how upon
earth we are going TO disguise you.
You can't be a nun when you deal In
'carnAp matters, you know"
"What sort Of brunette would
make ?i'
Annie laughed nervously.
"YOu know" continued Alice, 'that
my blonde hair curls nicely. Suppose
cut it short, so 1t will friz all over my
head. Then Pll color it black and dye
my hands and face dark olive tint, and
you may import me In the autumn rs
a Spanish milllner."
"Whoever heard of a Sefiorita with
blue eyes? ? We can't do that"
''Then I'll dye my hair brown and
color my complexion very little, and
you may import me as your new
French milliner, when you get fall
goods"
That's capital."' said AmIe. "We'n
try that"
And "try it, they did, and succeeded.
In due time came a letter from Mel
win Hastings and draft for four thous-
and dollars. Alice's missive was an en-
couraging and brotherly one, and
Amie's-well, reader, guess we'd better
not look at that. Suffice it to say that it
brought rest and reinsurance to the
girls troubled heart and filled her wait
ing soul with song Of gladness.
Annie surprised and gladdened her
friend, the wholesale dealer, by paying
every dollar Of her Indebtedness and ad-
the necessary funds with which
to purchase fall stock.
Being thus beforehand with her busi-
ness gave her great pecuniary advantage
over the many competing men milli-
ners who, in their desire to protect
woman, had combined to undersell and
so get her out Of the way of their gains.
The pretty French milliner quietly
assumed her proper position and was
well advertised in the papers, while
Annie was busy from every morning
until far into the night In receiving
orders, making sales and humoring the
silly whims of numerous fashionable
customers whose mental horizon was
bounded by every day folly, and who,
consequently, gave far more attention
to the shade Of ribbon, the style Of a
flower, or the makeup Of a hat, than
they ever considered it necessary to be-
stow upon the problem of human
destiny or the ameliorstIon of human
suffering.
Meanwhile, time sped on, and the
Lee family were progressing rapidly
towards manhood and womanhood.
Henry Lee hired private tutors, and
by dint of hard application TO bis
studies, was enabled to pass an exami-
nation before the highest educational
tribunal in the city, and in due time re-
ceived the honorary degrees Of A. B. and
A. NJ.
His salary, as editor-in-chief Of the
Every Morning Gazette, was now raised
to a sum corresponding to his Increased
importance in the world Of letters and
art, and to give tone TO the journal it
was deemed necessary, as valuable
auxiliary to his party I'm coming po-
litieal campaign, to announce his name
and rank at the head Of the editorial
columns. He was also busy reading
law, under private tutelage, and there
were henceforth no impediments in the
way of the fame and fortune Of the
brilliant and promising young man.
As the conviction had become firmly
rooted in the minds Of the Hastings
family that Alice had indeed shipped
before the mast, there was no further
public search for her, but the police
force was employed and heavy rewards
secretly offered for the discovery and re-
turn Of the missing daughter and her
jewels.
Miss Lees Fashion Emporium in a
short time became so popular that no
lady in Portsmouth considered herself
faultlessly attired unless her millinery
was purchased there; and had Annie
been as free from care as her brother
Henry was, 1t would have been as easy
a matter for her to rise in the mercan-
tile world as 1t had proved for him 70
rise toward the literary zenith. But
her poor brother James, with the inner
ited bad appetite and impulsive disposl-
tion, gave her great trouble. Twice
within six months it devolved upon her
to advance heavy sums to save him