Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1879-05-02

and sometimes ma cried, and pa would
look in the morning just as if he hadn't
/ slept wink, and don't believe he had.
Once it was dreadful. Pa came home tip
BY, and never seen ma feel SO bad, ever;
and then they talked 1t over, and finally
ma went home to erandpapa's, in New
York, with Maud, and stayed with pa to
60 to school.
Then pa kept getting worse and worse
and we went to live in rooms and at res
taurants; and pa stayed out late at nights,
and guess he drank more than was good
for him and I thought something had to
be done. So l said to pa one day, "Pa less
go into business and open store"
! And he laughed and said "What kind
of a store?''
And 1 said, con, candy store, or a
stationery store, or a thread and needle
store, Just such as women keep and little
| girls help in.''
And pa laughed and said he would think
of it, and when he came home that night
asked him if he had thought about it.,
and he said he hadn't and I said he had
better and he said he would; and that
morning he didn't 60 out, but stayed at
home and wrote ma a long letter.
SO next next day went into store on
Polk street kept by nice lady who had a
bad husband, where they sold everything,
and she said in French they called it I'm
gerie.
did not know what she meant, because
it was French, and I asked if she didn't
want to sell her store, and she said:
s'Do you want to buy a store, little
girl?''
And I said: my pa does," and she
smiled and said she guessed the sheriff
would have store to sell in few days
and l said I would tell pa, because he
knew Mr.. Nunan, the sheriff. It was one
of Mr.. N unan's men that sold pas house
and furniture for him.
And the next day I told pa about the
store, and what nice one it was, and he
said he had been dry goods man once,
had had large store, and sold silk dress
goods. and velvets and furs, and 1aces
worth ever SO much a yard. and India
shawls worth more than thousand dol
| lars apiece.
don't know exactly what pa did; but
I think something turned up few days
afterwards, for l heard him say he had
made :'raise,' and he showed me more
than thousand dollars in gold and notes.
and for day or two he carried them in a
side pocket, and mostly kept his hand ove1
them, for fear they would jump out and
fly away; and pa bought me some shoes
and hat, and stuff for aprons, and made
them myself, and never saw pa look SC
happy since ma went away, and one day he
said to me:
ssVivie, have bought the store on Polk
street, and you are to be my saleswoman
and partner"
And sure enough, in few days we went
into the store, and over the door was q
great big sign of "Jones & Co.," and pa
said I was the &C.," And when [ said
''And so, pa, you are JONES'" he blushed,
and guess he didn't like his old friend,
to know that he was selling needles and
thread and tape and things.
We had two snug little rooms in the
back of the store to sleep IN, and I made
pas bed and swept out the room and
tidied things. At first pa shut up the
store when he had to go down town on
business, but after little while tended
| txro in
the store l waited on one, and it. wasn't
long before 1 could make change and sell
things and add up almost as good as pa
could; and by -and-by when he went down
town tended store, and we had splendid
times. We went out to a nice place across
the street for our meals. tended when
pa went, and pa tended store when
went.
One day pa came in and looked dread
fully troubled, and then l said: ''Pa, amt
[ a partner, and don't partners have a
right to know everything, and amt you
hiding something about Jones u Cop
And then found out that pa had bought
| too many things for the store, and that a
note for a thousand dollars had to be paid
and there was not any money to pay 1t
with, and that's what made pa feel bad.
And then 1 thought and thought, and
wondered how l could get thousand dol
lars, and kept on thinking over everybody
that | guessed had a thousand dollars,
and every one I guessed had it 1 guessed
wouldn't lend it to pa. And then | thought
about Mr.. Flood and said, ''l'll 60 down
to his bank and get it, for he's got more
than a thousand dollars, and down in the
Bank of Nevada the cellar is full of gold,
any of course he don't use it all the time,
and Ill borrow thousand dollars fol- pa,
back and pay the interest,"" And then I
jumped up and hurrahed for Jones &
| Co., - took my best bonnet and put On my
gloves, and took off my store apron, and
combed nay hair, and got into car, went
to the Nevada Bank, and told the clerk /
wanted to borrow thousand dollars; and
he laughed and said he guessed had bet
ter see Mr.. McLane. And 1 asked who
Mr.. McLane was. The clerk said Mr..
McLane was the president, and was in the
back room, and l went into the back
room. and Mr.. McLane said:
"Well. little girl, what can do for
your"
And said: Il want to borrow thous-
and dollars"
Mr.. McLane opened his eyes, and screw
ed his chair around. and looked at me and
said, "A thousand dollars !''with as much
surprise as though thousand dollars was
all the money he had in the bank. Then l
BEGAN to get scared, and cried, and then l
told Mr.. McLane all about pa and ZONES