The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-10-16
THE PAWNBROKER,s STORY.

THE PAWNBROKER'S STORY.
As a pawnbroker i'm populous sub
urb of London, | have had occasion te
see painful, and sometimes not unpIeas
ing phases of society. Just to give an
idea of what occasionally comes under
the notice of person in my profession,
shall describe little incident and its
consequences. One evening | stepped
to the door for a little fresh air and to
look about me for moment. While
was gazing up and down the road, | saw
Il tldlly-dressed young person step up to
our side door. She walked like a lady
and let me tell you that in nine cases
out of ten it's the walk, and not the
dress, which distinguishes the lady from
the servant girl-and first she looked
about, and then she seemed to make up
her mind in a Hurried sort of way, and
I'D moment more was standing at our
counter, holding out glittering some
thing in a little trembling hand covered
with a worn kid glove.
My assistant, Isaacs, was stepping for
ward to take the seal, when | came in
and interposed. The Door young thing
was so nervous and shy, and altogether
80 unused to this work, that / felt for
her rs if she had been my own daughter,
almost. She couldn't have been above
eighteen years old-sO frail and gentle a
creature.
:. If you please, will you tell me-" she
said timidly, in Il very sweet, low voice,
trembling with nervousness, "what is
the value of this seaI?"
Well, Miss" / said, taking the seal
into my hand and looking at tit was
an old-fashioned seal, such AS country
gentlemen used to wear, with a coat of
arms cut upon 18th depends upon
whether you want to pledge it, or to sell
it outright"
L am married, SIR" and she said the
words proudly and with dignity, though
still 20 shy, and seeming ready to burst
out crying; land my husband is very
ill-and-and-.' And then the tears
wouldn't be kept back any longer, and
she sobbed as if her poor little heart
would break.
There, there, my DEAR" / said to her;
don't cry; it will come all right in
time" and | tried to comfort her in nv
rough-and-ready way "I will lend
you, ma'am," l said to her at last, "a
sovereign upon this seal; and if YOU wish
to sell it, perhaps I can sell it for YOU to
advantage" And so gave her a pound;
and she tripped away with a lighter
heart, and many thanks to me, and |
thought no more of the matter at the
time.
Christmas, there came into our place of
business a very eccentric gentleman, who
had called upon us pretty often before,
not for the sake of pawning anything,
though he was generally shabby enough
to. But he WAS a collector-one of those
man who are mad upon old china and
curiosities of all sorts.
Anything in my way, to-day, Mr..
Davis7' he said, in his quick, energetic
manner, with a jolly smile upon his
face, and putting down the cigarette he
was smoking upon the edge of the coun-
ter. The Rev. Mr.. Broadman is a coIlec-
tor OF gems, and rings, and seals, and, in
fact, OF any stones that have heads or
figures upon them. And | had been in
the habit of putting aside for him what
ever IN this way passed through our
hands, for he gave us better price than
we should have got for them at the quar-
terly sales. "The fact is, Davis he
said to me, these things are invaluable;
many OF them are rs beautiful, on a small
scale, as the old Greek scriptures; and
some of them even by the same artists.
And they are made no longer; for, in
this busy nineteenth century of ours.
time and brains are too precious to be
spent on these laborious trifies'' Now.
although had no stones of the kind he
wanted just then, it entered into nv
head that | would tell him about the
seal which had come into my possession
the evening before.
l told him the story somewhat as /
have just told it to you. He listened at
tentively to all | said. When had done
he looked at the seal, and said, 90 observe
that 1T has been the heraldic emil lom of IA
baronet. He then congratulated me up
on the way in which / had acted. He
asked. too, for this young lady's address.
which she bad given me quite correct,
and then he left the shop without another
word.
You must give me leave to tell the
rest of the story in my own way. although
1T may be very different way from that
which the reverend parsonage emploved
III relating it to me afterward
Ut seemed that il was a runaway match.
A country baronet's son had fallen in
love with the clergyman's dauehterin the
village where his father lived, and they
had run away together and got married.
Then they came up to London, these two
poor young tiilhgs-fOr neither his father,
nor hers either, for the matter of that,
would have anything to say to the match
he, full of hopes of getting on in the
literary and artistic line, and she, poor
creature. full of trust in him.
The project of living by Iiteraturc.cIid
not turn out as was expected. The yoIrn"
fellow without experience or friends
spent much time in going about from one
publisher to another, and sending his
writings to the various magazines
which J need not say were always ere
turned with Thanks And then he fell
NJ typhus, fancy, brought on by insult
fIcIent nourishment, and bad drainage
ana disappointed hopes. The registrar
eases in any list that am aware of. lint
we see something Of them in our Inc Of
business nevertheless.