The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-08-19

| mouse, ana the luTHltuIO was oCH' "
the auction and ma felt very bad, ana
pa wasn't like himself any more ana
never told me stories nor kissed me i
and once, when Maud was asleep IN
his arms he kissed her and cried, and
when I told ma she guessed pa dld
not feel very we'll, and then she cried.
After this we went to boarding.
house "a nasty, musty boarding
house. Everything was well enough
only boarding house amt like
home.
Then the baby came, and it died,
and ma almost died and l heard pa
say to the man that kept the board
ing. house that he was pretty tight
up, but it was all coming out right /;
and the next day, pa didn't have any
( watch. nor. any sleeve buttons. =
didn't seem to notice it, because L
saw that maybe he had sold them to
pay board and l heard pe and ma
talk away in the night, and some
times ma cried, and pa would look in
the morning just as if he hadn't slept
a wink, and 1 don't believe he had.
Once it was dreadful. Pa came home
tipsy; and l never saw ma feel so
bad, never; and then they talked it
over, and finally ma went home to
grandpa's in New York, with Maud,
and 1 stayed with pa to 60 to school.
Then pa kept getting worse, and
worse, and went to live in rooms and
eat at restaurants and pa stayed out
late at nights, and 1 guess he drank
more than was good for him, and |
thought something had got to be
done. So said TO pa one day:
"Pa, let's 60 into business and open
a store"
And he laughed and said, "What
kind of a store"
And l said, ooh, candy store. or
stationery store. or thread anG
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 l asked him if he had
thought about it, and he SAID he had
not, and | said he had better, and he
said he would and that morning he
didn't go cut, but stayed at home and
wrote ma long letter. So next day
/ went into a store on Polk street,
: kept by a nice old lady who had a
| bad husband, where they sold every,
thing, and she said in French they
called it lingerie. l did not know
what she meant, because it was
French, and | asked her if she did
not want to sell her store, and she
| said =
| do you want to buy store, little
I girl?" And l said: "My pa does
And she smiled and said she guessed
| the sheriff would have store to sci
] in few days. l said would tell pa
| because he knew Mr.. Nunan, the
| sheriff. 1t was one of Mr.. humans
| men that sold pas house and furni
| ture for him.
| And the next day 1 told pa about
| the store and what nice one it was
1 and he had been dry-gOods mar
once, and had large store, and solC
, silk dress goods, and velyets and furs
and laces worth more than 81, ,00(
apiece.
l don't exactly know what pa did
but l think something turned up" {
few days afterward, for | heard hin
n say he had made "raiSe :" and hi
i showed me more than 81 900 in goC
r, and notes, and for a day or two h,
u carried them in side pocket, anC
d mostly kept his hand over them, fo
a fear they would jump out and fly
d away : and pa bought me some shoe
d and hat, and stuff for aprons, and
: made them myself, and L never saw
IS pa look so happy since ma wen
It away, and one day he said to me -
l. "Vevie, have bought the store ol
e. Polk street. and you are to be m!
S. saleswoman and partner"
is And sure enough, in few days W
( went into the store, and over the doc
le was great big sign of "Jones q Co.
II and pa said l was the Company.
And when said, "And so, pa, yO
IS are Jones ?" he blushed, and l gues
la he didn't like his old friends to knoN
s. that he was selling needles and threa
er and tape and things. We had tw
IS snug little rooms in the back of tn
er store to sleep in, and made pa's be
st and swept out the rooms and tidie
es things. AT first pa shut up the stor
I'd when he had to go down town o
h business, but after little while
ot tended 1t, and when there were tw
ne customers in the store l waited o
go one, ard it wasn't long before coul
ne make change and sell things almo,
nd as good as pa could; and by and by