Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1880-07-24
A PEDDLFR'S CRIME.

, woman, being trnstful by nature an,
ignorant of evil, is the predestined pre-,
Oh the pcddler. 1t is seldom that til
peddler attacks a man, for he knows tina
IN all probability he viii be received will
GOODNESS, and that his wares will be sneer
ed at and bis veracity doubted Woman
ON tue other hand, are always curious t.
see the contents Of 4 pc.!dIers pack, ani
are quite rcedy to believe whatever he
says. When he assures them that he is
Offering them an opportunity to buy val
rabie articles Mt ridiculously cheap ra te
they hasten to buy, What is really i'll
eNpiicnblc is the Fact that, though a wo-
man may haze been cheated by six snc-
cesslve pcd'llcrs, she never permits her
! experience to distInst the seventh She
accepts his assurance that he las the only
genuine preparation for replatin ng
old spoons, and that his can de
Cologne is manufactured by the original
Farina. This faith in pcd.llers, rising
triumphant over every obsta lie, is sub
lime as well as touching, and is Il distinc-
tive trait of all good women.
Now and then we find a man who is
such by mistake, and who is thoroughly
fcmininS in his habits of mind. Mr.,
Baldwin is conceded by all tho inhabi-
tants Of Oshkosh to be wholly free from
masculine voices, and is as blameless in
his conduct as the most eminent local
mother in Israel, but there is universal
conviction that his sex is an error, and
that he was originally intended to be a |
woman. This fully eXplai s the feminine |
readiness with which he yields to the wilcs |
OF peddlcrs. They seem to be drawn to
Ilm as by magnetic attraction. and they
never fail to sell him something. 1t is
that Mr.. Baldwin has dozens of
bottles OF infamous pertnmery. and scores
OF packages ofbrass jewelry in his room,
which he has bought from time to time of
peddlcrs who had won his cor tidcuce.
Wlil'e the numbered articles Of Liz orr gin
ind character which he las presented to
The young ladies' Of Oshkosh is painfully
arge. OF course, it is ditficnlt to hold
Mr.. Baldwin guiltless in this matter, but
lis errors have been the result of his
cmininity, and surely the ped,liers who
lave taken Il base advantage of his weak
less deserve by far the greater share of
blame.
When, on Friday last, Mr.. Balwin {
bought of a pcddler Il bottle of hair &C. q
nent with the view of presenting it to
Hiss Bartlett, he Inent to do a kind and ,
hnnghtfnl act. lie knew that ladies are Il
duIcted to using various preparatons-
uch as kandolinc, mucilage, and bloom 0
Eonth-for the purpose of keeping
heir hair in place and giving it a smooth p
nj glossy appearance. The peddler e.
'h him that his hair cement was far
1perior to anything of the sind now in V
lc market, and that no lady who had
nee used it wou.d consent at any price II
he without il. MI. Baldwin, therefore, II
ought bottle Of hair cement, and sent III
to Miss Bartlett with a neatly written
otc, l" which he Inadvertently re lewed III
IS vows OF affection, while cntreatinr y
II To use the cemert th.t very evening 81
VI his sake. For what followed the ped
II SHOULD be held primarily responsible, IL
+ 1t IS idle to pretend that, had MIR.
a!dwln forcSeen he consequences of his er
It, he would ever have placed the fatal he
'ttle i'll the hands of one to whom he
as devoted dly attached al
A'outS S O'Clock in the evening Mr. Bald sh
in called on Miss Bartlett, and was de-
GIFTED to notice the unusually glossy APP mi
arancc of ilcrhair. She sad that there th
as no doubt that the hair cement was
tier than handolino in point of adhe- cri
'cncss, and that she hoped it would io'
owe to be ali that woman's heart
aid wish. Still, she was a little fraid a
1t 1t was tritle too sticky, ina>much aS
the bottle had already g ued itself :
t to her dressing table. Nh. Baldwin 1T
d he hoped not, and assured her that :
peddler who sold him the bottle was
honest man, who coud not tell q lie. an
Q lovers then ceased to discuss the the
ject OF hair cement, and, seating them iin
yes upon the sofa, proceeded to the CIV
lncss of the evening, which is said to not
'e been the solution of a series of prob thi
is of quadratic equations. g
{ a little after 8 O'Clock there was 4 g
den alarm of father in the front hall. ey
Ike circumstances the prudent young to |
always turns mp the light and seats hou
self in the rocking chair, Il feat that to !
be done by young ladies in good prac- len'
in from three to five seconds When Det
s Bartlett undertook to rise with 81
" to the light and the rocking chair =,
cXciaimeu "Oh, mN!' in agoniZed -
IS and, to Mr.. Ba!dwin's immense as Ave
remained in her orr isinal po- '',o'
N. There was not a second to be lost,
J., ' t ,cc
s!ready the boots of the father were w.
II ,,,,o,, 4,,o na,,, 49,, ,.,...,.-., Disc