The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-08-28

4
she is not on the square, she does it un-
commonly WELL" thought Mr.. Riddel;
"perhaps have done her an injustice,
poor dear"
On the third morning after her visit
the widow called again, sailed quite
| naturally up to our hero, and cast
anchor under his eyes. "You will
think" she remarked, after what
said the other day about gewgaws, that
am very changeable in my tastes; but
am not come this time upon my own
account; want to see some diamond
lockets for q friend" .-.
| This is quite the usual course with
ladies and others who victimize the
| jewellers. They buy a ring for ten
pounds, and after having thus estab-
lished themselves-casto out their sprat
to catch herring-they patronize the
establishment in earnest.
Singular to say, however, this did
not rouse Mr.. Ridders suspicious. Not
withstanding his pretense of indiffer-
ence to Mrs. Montford's charms, he
had privately sent to DE Ia Bois, in the
interim, and found that the lady did
reside at the fashionable hairdresser's s,
and on the first floor; he had done it,
of course, in the interests of the firm,
and in case she should can again; but
| perhaps he would not have been pleased
had Messrs. Nation and Boltby been
made aware of his precaution.
The locket that pleased her most was
an expensive one, perhaps too much so
for her friends purse, she said. Jtwas
very foolish of that lady, but she had
such acomplete reliance upon her (Mrs.
Montforts) taste and judgment that
she had placed the matter entirely in
her hands. 1t was a great responsible
ity. What did Mr.. Riddel think?
Mr.. Riddles thoughts were always
cut and dried on such occasions. He
expressed his opinion that the locket
selected by Mrs. Montfort was certain
ly the most elegant of all, and testified
to the sagacity of the lady who had
such confidence in her good taste. But
as to the price, Mrs. Montfort herself
was the only Judge as to the State of
her friends exchequer.
90, she's rich enough" said Mrs.
Montfort, "and as open-handed as any
woman can be. Our sex are naturally
inclined to be little close" she added
with smile, 6 don't you think SOP"
Mr.. Riddel did not think so; he had
always found ladies very generous in
their dealings; in this lady's particular
case he felt more certain than ever that
the locket-and he let the light play on
it so as to show the brilliants to the
best advantageous the very thing to
suit her.
~ think so, too" murmured the
widow; "but then you see there's the
responsibility. 1 tell you what you must
do. You shall send all the lockets to
" 10dr dryin for hn.rr ~ hap
my niece, who is staying with me, shall
give her opinion on the matter; and by
her advice will abide"
Mr.. Riddel smiled, but shook his
beautiful head of hair. Every curl of
it-and there were thousands of them
expressed polished but decided neg
ative. 1--WE couldn't do it, madam,
we really couldn't"
leave the fockcts for an
hourP" '..-.. --r
mo, madam, not for q moment. OF
course, it is but q mere formula, one of
those hard-and-fast regulations, the ex-
istence of which one so often has to de-
plore; but have no authority to oblige
you as you request. 1 can send the
lockets, of course-or bring them my
self-but whoever is in charge of them
will have orders not to lose sight Of
them. This is an invariable rule with
every customer whose name is not en-
tered on our books.'
Instead of getting into G rage-genu-
inc, if she was genuine, or pretended,
if she was q swindler-the widow ut
tered low ripping laugh,
Like the voice of summer brook
In the leafy month of June,
Which, to the sleeping woods, all night
SiuQeth a Ouiet tune-,'
only her teeth were much whittier than
the pebbles of any brook. "You tickle
me-" she said, (of course she was only
speaking metaphorically,) $50 that I
really cannot help laughing; it is SO
dron that you should think came here
to steal lockets."
"My dear madam" said Mr.. Rid
del, "pray do not talk like that; if it
rested with me-" (sly dog that he was,)
"you should carry off the whole con-
tents of the shop to choose from. "ur.
You are very good and very kind"
she said. eff any other person had
expressed such doubts of me l should
have been terribly offended. But 1
quite understand how you are situated.
Well, you shall bring the lockets your
self, and for fear you should think 1
have any wicked designs" she added
with little blush, "will you come this
morning? 1t will be equally convenient
to my niece, and you needn't be afraid
of being garroted by daylight"
"My dear madam" exclaimed Mr..
Ridde1 for the second time, and with q
deeper depreciation than before, show
can youP OF course, will come when
ever you please"
Every good; as my brougham is here,
l will drive you home in it." In five
minutes he had packed up all the lock-
cts and was following her elegant
though stately figure down the shop.
There he goes with another Duch-
ess," whispered Nation to Boltby; " see
how he runs his hand through his hair"
"Let US hope that she will comb it
for him." answered Boltby the bald,
thinking of that happy pair who had
seemed all in all to one another, but
had not been SO Preoccupied as to pre-
vent them giving him the chloroform.
- believe she's no more Duchess
than you are"
Months rolled on, but though you
had gone ever so many times into
Messrs. Moonstone's establishment you
would not have seen Mr.. John Riddel.
His flowing cataract of hair no more
adorned the foreman's s desk, over which
CLEANED in its place-like moonlight
over sunlight-the bald and shining
head of Mr.. Boltby. And yet our hero
was in the shop; he stood at the counter
in the further corner, where the young
est assistant was always placed, (in
charge of the mourning jewelry,) with
Welsh wig on. His own mother
not to mention the Duchesses-would
never have known him. He had fallen
from his high estate, and was begin
ming life again on the lowest rung of
the ladder.
This was how it happcned, Mrs