, 1876-10-22
THE WRONG CUSTOMER.

l. LESSON WITH MORAL FOR LADY CLERKS.
The other day an old man entered dry goods
store on West Madison street, and mcekly paus-
ed before the counter presided over By statu-
esque young woman, who puts On more majesty
for 81 week than Juno could have afforded for
twice the money before the War, when things
were much cheaper than they are now. He watt
cd for three and half minutes till she had
coaxcd refractory hair to Lie straight, and then
came sailing towards him with the grace Of 8
whole flock of swaps, then, respectfully cleaning
her nails, waited to hear what he had to say.
sHave you any ribbon, niss:" said the old
man, timid1y.
The young lady followed with her eyes lady
who happened to be passing the window, made
q mental appraisenlcnt Of tho lady's costume,
aud rough estimate OF the number Of yards Of
stuff it took to make her dress, resolved inward
ly to have hers cut straighter down the sides
and fuller in front, and then graciously answer
ed: 'Sirz'
The old man was somewhat discouraged, but
did not show 1t, and hu1nbly repeated his .ques-
'tYcs, Of course,'' replied the lady, adding
kindly; !" this isn't a butchers shop or tin
smiths, and when people want ribbons they
usually go to dry goods store. That is,'' she
added, pleasantly, "uuless they are idiots"
*'Thank you, miss responded the customer,
abjectly; Twill you please show me some?'
The young lady heard him, but she needed
not. Her eyes we're with her mind, ana that
was far away. She wes slowly passing in review
the leading incidents and most thrilling scenes
OF the story '* 1rene's Vengeance, or The Dis
cartlcd Daughter -iu-Law, - which will be cou-
cluded in the next number Of The Weekly Slush-
b1tcke, and wondering whether Irene would take
poison, or marry the Count, or Kill the Count,
dane things, she said, with feeble show of in
terest:
ttWhat sorts About how wtS,s What fora
About what price4n
sidering what theatre she would go to If her fe1-
low asked her; and what she would take for
supper if he invited her after the performance;
and whether the fried oysters would make her
very bilious: next day. Finally she gave some
sisns Of returning animation, and listened af-
fably as the old man said: "Just show n1e
few, and I'll pick out what'u sorter suit the old
wo1nan.n
The young lady, with freezing contempt, re-
Piled. mimicling the old mans accent to perfec-
tion: Hadn't you better git hum and send the
old woman or some one that kinder sortcr knows
what she wants, eha' 3!
''Sartin. sa1tin, Miss" mcckly replied the
old man. ''Mornin', miss; sorry to have put
ye to so much trouble,'' and he turned away.
At that moment the door opened and the
stern manager entered the store. He did not
seem to recognize any one, and was haughtily
advancing up tho aisle between the shawl and
rug and undcrclothing departments when he
caught sight Of the old man. In an instant his
demcanor was changed and, bowling obsequious-
~ to the venerable stranger, he said:
"Good morning, sir. I trust this informal
inspection Of your business has shown that We,
your employees, are active III your service and
faithful to tue trust Jou rcpose in US. This
way, honored sir; Mr. Hopper, carry chair to
my Office; aud Adonis Hopper, Esq, intermitted
Cd s'ns Over at the the saS as ressd Sssaa
away uimh1y on his meufa1 errand. When he
returned he said to the young lady, in reply to
her question, "Who is the old man ?' 40,
that's the new Tycoon. Hes bought out the
s7,o0U,o00. Widowcr. His first wife was
clerk i'll store that treated him clyily for him
self alone, and he married her and gave her a
$4,000 set Of diamonds, and rs for 1resses--
Lord her bill must have been thousand
month. They say she was the very image OF
YOU Guess you've made an impression Oh
him. Be sure you invite us all to the we'd
ding" =
4 cold shudder ran down that young woman
from her clignon to her panier, aud she turned
deadly pale in the substrata of her face. But
she was woman, and soon recovered her self
possession, aud when the obsequious manager
ushcrcd the new proprietor round and intro
duccd him to the clerks she had rallied sutti-
GENTLY to say:
II trust you will excuse me, sir, for my in
nocent deception of this morning. The fact is,
had recognized you aud put on towards you a
demeanor wholly at variance with my usual
conduct. ! feared that if were as courteous
think Twas actuatcd by interested and unworthy
motives" Then dropping her voice sine added:
tsHau known Of your irreparable loss l fear
that my sympathy with you in your deep af1lie-
tion would hare prevented me from carrying
out my little comedy"