The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1879-08-23
A MODERN DELILAH
BY JAMES PAYN,
l..

John Riddel was young man in whom
confidence was Justly placed by Messrs.
Moonstone q CO., jewelers., his en-
ployers, IN whose establishment, at the
time we became acquainted with him,
he occupied the post of foreman. He
was not self-made man" as yet, but
he was on the road to it. For, as we all
know, Providence has still the adyan-
tage of priority in this particular; it
makes It's man (such as he is) at a COM
paratively early date, whereas, when a
man makes himself, he seldom accom-
pllshes 1t before he is fve-and- forty at
the very least-when, indeed, the other
cannot be compared with him. John
never drank, except glass of beer with
his early dinner; he never smoked, nor
of course took snuff; he never handled
anything in the shape of billiard cue,
unless it was his neatly and tightly
rolled-up umbrella; he never-I was
going to add he had no weakness as re-
CARDS the ladies, but this l hardly dare
to write, because of the extreme atten-
ton he paid to his very fine head of
hair. Why should any man, not being
Narcissus, take such great pains with
his hair, unless to make an impression
on the ladies?
Yet even here | must hasten to do
John Riddel justice; it would have
shocked him to have supposed that he
had any general views in this direction.
10
gay LOthario; if he had had serious
designs, they would have been upon one
lady only, and by no means induced by
any meretricious attractions such as
youth or beauty; he would, in accord
ance with precedent, have attached him
self to his masters daughter, though she
had been twenty years older than him.
self, or black woman, or an albino.
Unfortunately, Mr.. Moonstone had only
nephews, whom our hero could not
marry, and who would, in all probabili-
ty, become partner in the concern before
him. Still, he cultivated that fine head
of hair, narrowed it with q tortoise-shell
COMB, drove furroW straight across it
from his brow to the nape of his neck,
and top-dressed it with macassar oil and
other unguents. 1t shone in the sun as
brightly as any of Messrs. Moonstone 4
Cos cost y wares, over which he presided.
There were other assistants in the
shop, and with them | am sorry to say
Mr.. John Riddel was not popular
young men rarely appreciate in their
associate so much virtue as resided in
our hero, and especially if that virtue
has not been It's own reward, but has en-
abled Its pOssessOr to walk over their
heads and stop there. There was hardly
one among them bat at some time dur
ing his servitude with Messrs. Moonstone
had mlslald ring or trinket for a few
hours, or had even caused some loss to
the firm, not so much through careless
ness as from not being quite as wide
awake as a weasel.
For the way of a jewelers. assistant is
set with springs. 1t is calculated that
about one per cent. of the customers at
such establishments are rogues and
vagabonds, people who come to spy out,
not the nakedness of the land, but its
riches, and if possible to possess them
selves of them by force or fraud. And
these look as little like rogues as nature
land art) can enable them to do. Not
withstanding all that has been written
upon the deceitfulness of riches, it is
difficult to believe that gentleman who
rides on his own mail pEaeton, or lady
who comes in a chariot upon @ springs,
are brigands in disguise. Yet the young
men at Mr.. Moonstone's had been, most
of them, taken in by appearance, and at
least once in the lives of each their en-
ployers had paid for the experience.
One of them had taken jewelry to newly
married couple at a fashionable hotel
con approval" and had been so success
full in his recommendations that they
had collared " the whole lot, and given
him such dose of chloroform in
exchange for them that he was unable
to give any clear account of his adyen-
lures for hours afterward Another had
been set upon by whole gang of thieves,
in such s promiscuous and Overwhelming
fashion that he could recall nothing of
what had happened except that he had
been "struck with an instrument like
the ace of spades" which the newspapers
expressed the hope would afford some
clue to the police; they thought it
should, | suppose, that the perpetrators
of the outrage must be either gardeners
or gamblers; but nothing came of the
suggestion. Others, again, had been
exposed to the seductions of the fair sex,
and in losing their hearts had sacrificed
the diamonds of their employers.
In this last regard Mr.. John Riddel,
being sdamantine, was invaluable. His
youthful as well as handsome looks
attracted these ladies of industry, who,
on entering the shop, gravitated toward
him quite naturally. 4 man of that age,
as they fattered themselves, and one so
particular about his hair, must surely
fall an easy victim to their destinations.
Thieves as they were, they were still
women, and perhaps they allowed their
feelings TO carry them too far; if they
had stopped half way, where Mr.. Bobby
the cashier sat, or at the desk over which
Mr.. Nation (the hero of the ace of
spades) presided, they would have had a
better chance; but Bobby was bald and
Nation was gray, and women never will
understand that it is from forty to fifty
that men are most impressionable with
respect to female charms. Your con-