The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1878-10-24
MRS. BLAND.


weeks holiday and an exceedingly
moderate amount OF money to devote
70 my pleasures, after due considers-
tiOn, had selected Rippling Beach
for my fairing. As q tntrd clerk in
the bank, my vacations were few and
far between, and had determined to
make the best OF the occasion. When
Mr.. HoWlsnd, the assistant teller,
whose business it was to pay the en-
plOyes their salaries, bad given me
my check, he had casually asked me
where / was going, and / had eX-
| pRtiated or the charms OF Rippliug
Beach, and its being one Of the lost
places on Long IslGld.
Visitors at the Beach House were,
though gOOdish people, not cODgenial.
was Indifferent, however, to society.
BOatmen and fishermen were my
boon companions. had been q week
at Ripping Beach, when 4 beeams
acquainted with Mrs. Bland. This
lady was q late arrival. How | came
to talk with Mrs. Bland can hardly
tell. rather think that, hearing the
lady express q desire to zee a city
paper, had handed her q Times, and
In this way some commonplace con-
versation mad commenced. A certain
pleasant way the woman had, 3 fairly
well-bred manner, a disincIination to
indulge in tittle-tsttle with the rest OF
the bOarders, made her society rather
agreeable than otherwise. Mrs. Bland
was diminutive, had q graceful figure,
and dressed in quiet taste. Though
| Mrs. Agnes BIand was fully thirty,
she impressed me with q certain
childishness OF expression, in which
vague description | trust / am not
parsphrasing Mr.. Bret Hsrte. The
lady's eyes were of q pale blue, with
out fixity Of glance. No one would
ever have been rude enough to sven
attempt to stare Mrs. Bland out of
cOuntenRnce. 1t would have been,
apparently, too easy a thing TO do.
Without having evasive eyes, they
! seemed subdued and the least bit
| furtive. An immense volume of fair,
blonde hair, which she wore iE one
big braid, added most essentially to
her charms. For any trait of fiXity
OF purpose in Mrs. BANDS regularly
oval face, the only indication Of Il
was q slight wrinkling of the fore
head between the eyes. Such fur
rows had, however, no permanencc.
You might see such little winrOws on
ehild's face when some passing
matter for q brief moment had en-
gagged its scattered wits. COnversa-
tiOually, Mrs. Bland was fairly anus
/ ing. Educated, she was not A; but
having 8 good amount OF intuitive
perception, her remarks were clear
and defined. 1t was the day sitter /
had given her the paper, when said
to Mrs. Bland, "Hss your budget
failed to reach yoC ? 1t is one OF the
annoyances of an out-of-the-way
place. Mails are dilatory, or come in
hatches."
"Whst do you know about my
mail ?ii asked Mrs. Band. the little
wrinkles rougheniug in her fore
head.
"Why, Mrs. Bland" replied. II
you do not receive many letters, st
least you have q famous collection OF
newspapers coming to you every day
at least q Dozen"
"HOw do you know that ?"
"The only grocery man in the little
town, who sells me fish-hOcks, is the
Postmaster. 60 there early IN the
morning, before the mail is sent to
the hotel. The grocer generally runs
the whole mail, before me, into a
bushel basket, prior to handing me
my occasional correspondence. | see
Mrs. Agnes Bland on ever so many
journals. Have 1 the honor OF ad-
dressing q lady correspondents liter
Rry woman ?''
Nonsense what an idea My
husband sends the papers to me. 1t
&c An1fno 70 aFfanffnra his mart In
reading them time passes away dur
Mr.. Bland, I said to myself.
81 expect Mr.. Bland will be here in
few days. ] hope you will like hin.
He is a great fisherman. Now, 1 no.
tice you carry q fishing-pole to the
water-side every morning and bring
back nothing. My husband has sent
his fishing tackle down, so If you
want hooks or lines l can spare you
some. You come here every season,
do you not ?"
'No; this is the first time in my
life. Good morning, Mrs. Bland, and
thanks for your offer"
"GOOd morning, sir; but excuse
me moment. Would you kindly
look at this bill of mine the office
clerk has sent me? 1 am an idiot
about accounts. Here are some items
which l have no doubt are correct,
with express charges on some trunks
and things paid for by the office, and
the string Of figures puzzles me.
Then the handwriting is so bad.
Would you, now, just make the addI-
ton for me? On! amt afraid Of
your looking at the bill. There are
no sherry eObblers on the account,
and one does not trust muslin dresses
to sea side washerwomen." Mrs.
Bland had hanging from her neck g
delicate chain, and among numerous
rafting appendsges there was q dain-
ty gold pencil. With as pretty q dim
pied white hand as 1 ever saw she
bent over and offered the pencil.
The calculation was so simple that
ran Ii over in my mind without the
use OF the pencil, and gave the total.
1t differed a few cents, the advantage
being In Mrs. BANDS favor.
at is trifie in error, Mrs. Bland,
but the people are honest. It should
be SIS 81, instead OF S2S.G5"
II never could rememb6r the fig-
ures pray set them down. It will give
Mr.. Bland so much pleasure to know
that have my DILL exactly right.
He is such 3 strict man of business"
Willingly" I replied, and I wrote
at the foot Of the bill, ''S2S.67. KOr-
rect"
Thanks" said Mrs. Bland. "What
3 wonderful head you have for fig
ures." She scrutinizsd the bill closely,
and what s queer way of Masking
sevens :"
"Oh, in the bank am In do little
else than add up figures for hours on a
stretch. There is nothing queer about
nv sevens. / always cross my sevens.
Then they do net look like ones. In
a great many banking houses in New
York that is the rule. Scientific cal
cnlstOrs always use the crossed
seven"
"Ah, indeed. Ifyou want to see
lddicrOus ) or 8, lock at mine-such
wormy, twisting things. Look, " aud
Mrs. Bland drew the numerals.
They are quite ludicrOus, Indeed"
said. "rhere, make your this way,
ana don't bring the tail of your be-
low the line, like French 5" and
made the figures.
THANKS, for the lesson. will de-
tain " IL AOhEGAs 20 now
and pay my bill-S2S. .6T, YOU saw ~
With bow left Mrs. Bland, and.
hurrying to the wsterside, got my
boat, and was of after blue-fish. I
had better luck than usual, and
brought home that. afternoon some
fine blue-fsh snd wesk-fish. l had
the best fish cooked for supper, q pOr-
ton Of which / sent to Mrs. Bland,
who seemed to psrtake of them with
relish. Was not idiot enough 20
think, though il was three years sgO,
that the lady WAS especially pleased
with me for the attention, but IN the
evening, a fine mOOnlit one, Mrs.
Bland fingered on the verandah. l
was smoking cigar, seated at the
bottom OF the steps, within speaking
distance OF her.
''You very kindly offered me the use
OF Mr.. Bands tackle. Now, you
have not congratulated me on my
luck" I said.