The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-12-24
SELECT STORY.
A PLwNBROKER's STORY.


of what occasionally cones undrr the
= notice Of persons of my profession. ]
shall describe little incident and its
consequence One evening ! stepped 20
the door for little fresh air and to look
about me for a moment. While ] was
gazing up and down the road, saw n
tidily dressed young person step up 20
our side door. She walked like LADY,
and let ms tell yon that in nsne cases oat
Of ten if'a the walk and not the dress
that distinguishes the lady-and first
she looked abont and then she seemed to
make up her mind in hurried sort Of
way, and IN mon,ent more was stand
ing at onF counter holding ont a glitter
lag something ma little trembling hand
cpygrri by worn lid glove.
Ny azsisfanf. ISaacs, was stepping
forssssrsT 'fozSake slle seal, when ! came in
and iatesfossd@ Tie poor Young thing
aaz 81 Essss.srsa6 shy, and altogether
So an1ssf to wis work, that felt for
beFsas j. she bad been my own daughter,
almosyE She could not have been above
eighteen years oid--so frnil and gentle
creature. "a
fIf you please, will you tell me-" she
said in a very sweet. low voice, tremb-
ling with nervousness, what is the val
ue Of this seal9"
well, miss" said, taking the seal
into mF hand and looking af it;~is swas'
an oId-fashioned seal, snch as country
genslemep used to wear, with coat of
arms cut moon it-''ihat depends upon
whether you want 10 pledge or sell It
outright"
lam married, sir" and she said the
words proudly and with dignity, though
still 80 shy and seeming ready to bur~t
out cryinss @and my husband is very i'll
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; Il wiIl all come right in
tIme;" and tried TO comfort her in my
own rough and ready way. 81 will lend
you, ma a'am, said to her al last, "a
sovereign upon this seal; and il you wish
10 sell it perhaps can sell il for you to
advantage" And 40 gave her a pound;
and she tripped away with lighter
heart and many thanks 10 me, and ]
thought no more Of the matter at the
time.
The very next day, the day before
Christmas, there came into our place Of
business a very eccentric gentleman who
had called Hpon Us pressy often before,
not for the sake Of pawning anything
though he was dressed shabby enough to.
But he was collector-one of those
men who are mad upon old china and
curiosities of all sorts.
Anything in my way to-day, Mr.
Davis?" he said, in his quick, energetic
manner, with jolly smile npon his face
and putting down the cigarette he was
smoking upon the edge of the counter.
The Rev. Mr.. Broadman is a collector of
gems, rings and seals. and, in fact, of any
stones that have heads or figures upon
them. And 7 had been in the habit Of
putting aside for him whatever i'm this
way passed through our hands, for he
gave ms better price than We should
have got for them at our quarterly sales.
'The fact is, Davis" he said to me,
"these things are invaluable; many Of
them are as beautiful, on q small scale.
as the old Greek scriptures; and some are
even by the same artists. And they are
made no longer; for, in this busy nine
teenth century of ours, time and brains
are too precious TO be spent on these la
borious trifes.n Now, although ] had
no stones of the kind that he wanted
Just then, it entered into my head that ]
would tell him about the seal which had
come into my possession the evening be-
fore.
/ told him the story somewhat as
have just told il to you. He then con-
graduated me npon the way in which /
had acted. He asked, too, for the young
lady's address which she had given me
quite correct, and then he lett the shop
without another word.
You must give me leave to tell the
rest of the story in my own way, although
it may be a very difeaent way from that
which the reverended parsonage en-
ployed in relating it to me afterwaFd.
It seemed that il was runaway match.
A country baronet's son had fallen in
love with the clergyman's daughter in
the village where his father lived, and
they had runaway together and got mar
ried. Then they came up to London
these two poor young things-for neith
er his father, nor hers either. for that
matter, would have anything TO say tc
the match he, full Of hopes of getting
on in the literary and artistic line, anC
she, poor creature. full of trust in him
The project of living by literature die
not turn out what was expected. Th,
young fellow, without experience O.
friends, spent much time in going abou
from one publisher to another, and send
ing his writings to various magazines
which writings, need not say. were al
ways returned with thanks" And theI
he fell ill; typhus. fancy, brought OF
by insufficient nourishment and disap
pointment. The Registral-generald does
mt give a return of these cases in an.
list that am aware of; but we see some
thing of them in our line of business
nevertheless.
IL was just at this time that Mr.. Broad
man found out Mrs. Vincent; for tha
was the name of the lady who came I
my shop with the gold zeal. Cambridg
Terrace is not very far from the Ange
at Islington, and there, in q little bac
street Of small, respectable honses, in
habised By junior clerks, with here an
there lodging house, Mr.. and MIR
Vincent !; red
They were rather shy at first Of
stranger, and little proud and hangf
h~ ~ aaoEr hoi