The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-09-26

| "Mauan," said the crafty Young
man, 'ii il lay in my power to obligc
you, there would of course be no diff
Guilty in the matter; the rule of the
firm is, unhappily, what have stated -
"Then the firm will take my last six
pence" she rejoined with tender play
iulness; and from the most elegant
"portc monnaie" she counted him out
the SUN required, when its contents, in
truth. were quite exhausted. al am
lodging at Dc la Bois', the court hair
DRESSER" she said; ''my name is Mrs.
Montfort. However, will not trouble
You to send the ring, as | shall have to
go home to get some more money!
and she louked at him with eyes that
seemed to say, "Cruel man, thus to re-
duce me to dcsttuiion."
Then she rose and sailed down the
shop, carelessly glancing at this or that
(chicfly in the hair and mourning de-
partments) as she passed out.
"lf she is not on the square, she does
it uncommonly welI," thought Mr..
ltiddel; "pcrhaps have done her in
Justice, poor dear"
On the third morning after her visit
the widow called again, sailed quite
naturally mp to our hero. and cast an
chor under his eyes.
"You will think" she remarked,
"aftcr what said the other day about
gcw-gaws, that | am very changeable
III my tastes; but did not come this
tlnc upon my own account; | want to
see some diamond lockes for a friend"
This is quite the usual course with
ladies and others who victimze the
jewelers.. They buy ring for f10,
and after having thus established them
selves-cast out their sprat to catch q
herring-thcy patronize the establish
ment in earnest.
Singular to say, however, this did not
rouse Mr.. Riddcl's suspicious. Not
withstandiDg his pretence of indiffer-
ence to Mrs. Montfort's charms, he had
privately sent to De La Bois in the in
terim, and found that the lady did re-
side at that fashionable hairdresser's,
and on the first floor; he had done il !.
of course, in the interest of the firm,
and Ill case she should call again; but
perhaps he would not have been
pleased had Messrs. Nation IL Bobby
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. 1t was
very foolish of that lady, but she had
snch complete reliance upon her
(Mrs. Montforts taste and judgment
that she placed the matter entirely in
her hands. 1t was great responsible
ity. What did Mr. Riddel think?
Mr.. tidders thoughts were always
cut and dried on such occasions. He
expressed his opinion that the locket
selected by Mrs. Montfort was certainly
he 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 cXchcqucr.
"OA, she's rich enough" smiled Mrs
Montfort, and as open-handed as anv
woman can be. Our sex are naturally
inclined to be little close" she added
with IL smile, "don't you think SOP"
MIR. l'iddcl 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
lhc locket and he let the light play on
1t so as to show the brilliants to the best
advantage-was the very thing to suit
/ her.
81 think so, too," murmured the wild
ow; "but then you see there's the re-
sponsibility. tell you what you must
do. You shall send all the iockcts to
my lodgings for an hour or so, and then
my ncicc. who is staying with me, shall
give her opinion Oh the matter, and by
her advice / will abide"
MIR. Riddel smiled, but shook his
hpnnfllIIl nf hns A
it-and there were thousands ofthem-
expressed polished but decided mega
tive. "We couldn't do it, madame, we
really couldn't"
"W hat! not leave the lockets for an
hour?"
"No, madam, not for moment. OF
course il is but Il mere formula, one of
those hard-and-fast regulations, the ex-
T, istcnce of which one has so often to de-
plorc; but have no authority to obligc
you as you request. can send the
lockets, of course Or bring them my
selt-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 on
our books"
Instead of getting into rage-genu-
Inc, If she was genuine, or pretended,
If she was swindler-thc widow ut
tered a low ripping laugh,
"I.ikc the voice of the summer brook
In the lcaiy month of June
| Which, To the sleeping woods, II night,
| Singeth aqnict 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 ! really cannot help laughing ;
it is SO droll that you should think i
came here to steal lockets."
"My dear madam" said Mr.. Riddel,
''pray do not talk like that; if it rested
with me-" (sly dog that he was), "you
should carry of the whole contents of
the shop to choose from"
You are very good, and very kind" 4"
she said. 'If any other person had ex-
pressed such doubts of me, 1 should
have been terribly offended. But |
quite understand how you are situated.
Well, You shall bring The lockets YOUR
self, "and for fear you should think
J have any wicked designs" she added,
with little blush, "will You come this
morning? IL will be equally conven-
lent for my ncicc, and You needn't be
afraid of being garrotcd by daylight"
"My dear madam" exclaimed Mr..
liiddcl for the second time, and with a
deeper deprecation than before, chow
can YOU? OF course will come when
ever yon please"
"Ncry good; as my brougham is here
| 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 Bobby, "see
how he rams his hands through his
hair
"Let us hope that she will comb il
for him." answered Bobby tho bald,
thinking of the happy pair who had
seemed all IN all TO one another, but
had not been SO preOccupiel as to pre-