The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1876-01-13
tsts.. .s5iE IsEEE ~. :: ii
why He Did Net Day she, Venus zo1
.~5t Nallo, ,5ss@i4asl5 is.'ts :s,siris,h (.


Into one Of the large jewelry and fancy
goods stores Of Boston walked, the ether
day, one Of, those customers that the. hol
iday season sometimes brings TO- town
He was hard.hande6, loose iointed
broad.shouldered individual, carefully
dressed in new suit Of baggy, ready
made clothes, and home.laundried shirt
and : hat which, although perfectly new
was three season. behind the: present
fashion. Saunterlng up to one tie salsaa
men,with very obvious attempt at being
At home among the glittering splendor 81
the salesroom and a general air Of ''Not
to be astonished or done by you Boston
fellers," he inquired, "Got any brunzes!'
The clerk answered in tho affirmative, and
led the way to bewildering stock Of
bronze statuettes, clocks etc. The visi'
tor stared at them for I moment rs an
interior African might have At the first
white man he had ever seen, and then
setting his hat little more firmly on his
head, asked "Which o them figgers mou,
be the Venus Of high low!''
The trained salesman. with
placid countenance, quietly replied
II do not remember any by that title
are you sure that was the name !"* The
patrof, of the fine arts drew = large, vel.
low silk handkerchief from his hat, and,
mopping his face uneasily, said: :"It
mout ha been ace high, but think il
was high low Mariar sed that ef thou't
Of seven.up L shouldn't forget
the name. The fact is,'' said the pug
zled purchaser, with q sudden burst
Of confidence, ''Cap, l hev just put up =
new tenement down to South Higgins.
boro, and Mariar flowed she'd like =
brunze in the keepin' room, suthin' like
what she once seed in cousin Sam Stiff
ner's parlor on Beacon street. Cousin
Sam he writ the meme on a'card, m
p'raps I've got it now,'' and diving into
his breast pocket as If he was to un-
sheath a two.handed sword, he lugged out
a long pocket book, from the depths of
which he plucked card and handed it to
the salesman. "Ah!' said the latter,
"the Venus Of Milo. Yes, sir, here is =
fine copy; reproduction by Barbidi-
enne." The customer surveyed it earn
nestly for moment, and then said Eye
haint got a perfect one, hev ye,
Cap! This ere one has lost both her
arms and got dents all over her back. -
The patient salesman explained that the
statuette was a copy of the original that
was found in that condition. 'Shoh -
commented the other, and then hesitat.
ingly, don't any Of them have any more
close'n that? This ere one s night gown
pears to have kind Of slipped off on her. ,
Again the shopman, despite his twitching
muscles, explained to his attentive lis
tener that it was an imitation of an an
cient statue. He, however, cooking his
head on the side, inquired: "Wall, now,
what'll you tax fur her, jess as she
stands!" rapping his bony knuckles on
the bronze as ?, If it were buzz
saw. One, hundred and :, fifty dol.
lars for that size,'' said the clerk.
"Wha-a-t!' almost shouted the astonish.
ed would-be patron of the arts; 81 hun
dred'n fifty dollars fur brunze gal
'thout any"arms, and skearce = rag to her
back Venus Of, My Low! Venus Of Your
High, should say. A hundred'n fifty
dollars! Why, that's half the mortgage
on brother Jim's farm. Guess Mariar
must have thought my name was William
B. Astor, instead of "John Higgins" and
fixing his hat little firmer, he made 4
hasty exit from the store, and struck 4
straight line for the Eastern railroad sta
tion.