Litchfield enquirer., 1876-04-13
Harper's Monthly Magazine.
 WANTED-A SOUL.

WAMTED-A SOUL.
 And If vou should ever come our way, id the Western merchant, waving n1s hand in rather a lofty and comprehensive manner in the direction of the setting sun, we shall be delighted to see you. I must .n," he added, turning to the head of the firm, who stood blandly by, ''that we are largely indebted. to- our young friend for our pleasant sojourn ln the metropolis; and if there IS any thing worth seeing over yonder, when he finds It convenient to go that way We will endeay- or to make his visit interesting. .W
 fine tole of the trader seemed to imply that there mis sht possibly be found some thing very much worth seeing indeed, and young Hastings declared warmly that he should probably run in upon the firm of Armstrong and Go. sooner than ,h tt gentleman would perhaps expect 'It's only matter of a thousand miles or so, he added, in an under tone.
 And yOu couldn't do a better thing, said the senior member. when he had opened and shut tue door, and bowed very los and smiled until the muscles of his low er jaw had ached nith blandness, and had at last seen the broadcioth back of this extensive buyer become lost In the tidal wave of heterogeneously clad backs that stream up Broadway toward night fall-''you couldn't do a better thing, Hastings. You've succeeded in making a favorable impression there, and-ahem- q pretty heavy sale, eh ?% A little low in domestlcs, probably-a little low, Mir. Hastings; but you managed to balance it., eh? Hum 1 haven't the least doubt, with your usual prudence, you squared the thing nicely, eh?
 ''Thst's all right, Mr. Grimshaw," said the young salesman; but the senior mem- Der smoothed his whiskers doubtfully. as he watched the graceful form salesman disappear behind pile of goods.
 Whatever was the reason. Hastings cut there like the very-jinks p said Mir. Grimshaw.
 AS for the handsome young recipient of all these favors and .critisms, he had speedily left the grounffoor of the es- tablishment and disdaining all modern Improvements in getting up and down stairs, had leaped three at time, and tin- ally descended into grim and practical region dug out of the bowels of the earth, lighted perpetually with gas, heated with steam, and given over to the exclusive use of muscle and brain. In this part of the business house of Grimshaw, Grind, and Go. a fine appearance built upon any other advantages than those of bodily strength and mental quickness was rather a detriment than other~ ise to its posses sor, and the young Apollo vas hailed as he went along with familiarity that held a certain indifference, if not contempt, for the successful salesman. The head of the packing-ro0m still held HoN ard Hastings as a boy, and the engineer remembered the little model he had finished under his supervision.
 Now look out the way, will ye, How dy ?" said an Irish porter, grown gray in the service of Grimshaw, Grind, and Go. i; and Hastings sprang aside with alacity. He went on with quick step and some what absorbed air, until the side door of a room changed behind him with a clang that was lost in multitudinoEs clangor of so infinite and various a description that the senses were momentarlly stunned upon the threshold. The tramp of the porters with their barrows of goods, the mailing, banging, and pushing of cases. the loud. monotonous, trip-hammered voices of the callers off, and the shrilk nervous call back of the entry. clerks these mingled and commingled and swell ed upon the ear of an intruder, until he could we'll fancy he was in the. tower of Babel before the tower was built Hast ings dextrously made his way through this apparent chaos to desk at the farth- est end of the room, where was throned Jack Springer the champion entry clerk of tine metropolis. He was mounted up ou very high stool, with three jets of gas making halo of light and heat about his head, with his coat of, his wristbands turned up, his checks hot and flushed, his lips parched, his right hand of wonder ful shapeliness, small and white as a wo- man 8. the blue veins swollen and raised from ovei work, slaugltering dozens of pens, absorbing gallons of ink, covering leams of paper with delicate, < graceful, perfectly legible letters, and even. sym metrical, perfectly reliable figures his brain calculating, concluding, and round ing all these into results speedy and ac- curate enough to render him the wonder and admiration of Grimshaw, Grind, and Go. Howard was tall enough to stand upon the steps of this throne and reach Jacks ear ,''Drop this, Jack," he said, .'and come out with me to dinner"
 Jack smiled down upon this handsome face in way that softened wonderfully his own cynical features, but went on with hls magical pen In the mean time a person made his way to Hastings's side who seemed dressed in some sort of brief authority, although coatless and cuff1ess like the rest.
 ''See here, Hastings, l mnst.insist upon your letting my men alone, he said: mo- h,>l f,Il l>Il made out"
 "You don't pretend. to say," said Hast ings. contemptuously, s'that you can keep Jack any longer than he wants to stay, do you?",
 II have Jacks promise that he'll stick by these bills" said the head of the de- something, which can't be said for every bodys."
 Jack smiled again, never pausing half a second with his peR-destroylng and ink absorbing.
 .'Go on. Howard,"' he said, II will be with you in half an hour
 'tAt Delmonico's-"
 "No; around the corner
 And round the corner Hastings went He didn't like the locality; he had grown out OI IL, ulu very we'll SOme years DaCk, when both time and money were to be considered in dining. but now the place was unnecessary as. well as distasteful- unnecessary, because, in the matter of time Jack Springer was even more inde- pendent than himself; if he chose to throw down his pen for while. it was very in- convenient for the department; but they had to wait till he picked it up again. for 1t had been learned by repeated and bit ter experiments that nobody could wield that pen, or any other, as Jack Springer did As for the money, Hastings would attend to that. of course.
 He waited the half hour. his. eyes rest ing dreamlly upon the mutilated caster, or watching the diamond glisten upon his little finger as it tapped upon the tarnish ed cloth. As the moments went by. more and more dreamy grew the handsome eyes; his whole face softened. It tuas evi dent he had lost sight of the mutilated caster. the tarnishea cloth. even of the diamond, and was deep in reverie. When Jack Springer's hand fell upon his shoulder, he started and hlushed like a