Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1882-09-28
A DUPLEX ACCEPTANCE.

Young Selvidge came of father wht
had always looked out fer himself mos
industrously, but who, having alway.
lived in poverty-strlcken village, lef
his son little but good advice when ht
! died. his advice made up by repetition
what it lacked in quantity; it was
! simply this
at is easier to marry money than tc
earn it"
The young man, like dutiful son,
rolled his fathers favorite precept over
and over in his mind, and the more he
thought of it the better he liked it, fol
he could not help seeing that in his
native town of Pumpville. at least,
money was so hard to earn, that no
other way of getting it could be harder.
Most of the currency in circulation
came from the Big Perris pump factory,
and the workmen were SO poorly paid
that when they came to spend part of
their scanty wages at the store III which
young Selvidge was sole clerk, they
bought III such small quantities and
hesitated SO long over each purch Sc
IudI HcINIuSC W hOIA very
for his small salary.
Selvidge did not wait until his fathers
death TO act upon the old gentleman's s
injunction indeed, he began long be-
fore, with his fathers assistance, to cul,
tivate the acquaintance ofyoung women
who had money or prospects, and it
was by his fathers advice that Selvidge,
instead of learning the parental trade
of blacksmithing, had become o clerk
in village sto re, and thus placed him
self where he might frequently see the
young women of the vicinity in great
variety, without subjecting himself 70
expense or even loss of time.
AS Selvidge was not bad looking and
wore better fitting clothes than any
GE ma55rH1yp H9paRt " RtRe Ra9 goHnk IL tAf yes5a i i
well enough, but as none of them exact
ly answered his purpose, he carefully
abstained from love-making. Many OF
the daughters of farmers and mill lhauds
were buxom and pretty, and few
were clever, but on the short list In
which Selvldge had included the name
of every girl who had any money, or
could hope to have any, there was nota
name that represented five thousand
dollars, and although five thousand
dollars is not to be sneezed at, Selvldge
had set his heart on a much larger sum.
He had almost made up his mind to
change his base of operations and go to
New York, which the two or three
thousand dollars realized from the sale
oF l,;a FotIar'G nrOnartv rvouId onabla
him to do in fair style, when an unex.
pected chance fell In his way. Old
Perris, the sole owner of the Pumpville
pump factory, had an only daughter,
who, thanks to the laziness, luxury and
indulgence peculiar to the families OF
rich men who are rather coarse grained
and vulgar, changed In a single year
from q school girl In short dresses to a
full-blown young woman, who scarcely
knew what to make Of the change and
bad no one at home to inform her
Mrs. Perrls being an invalid whose only
treatment for any unexpected state OF
affairs was to fret at it.
So Miss Perris, as people began to
call the young woman who II year before
had been merely little Kate, did about
as she pleased. There was no bad COM
pany III the village for her to fall into,
for her father did not allow her to as
sociate with the village people except al
school and in church, and there was no
''set" of young people who could give
evening par les Tor the sole purpose OF
dancing and Irritation. There were no
young men In the vicinity whom her
father would have allowed to visit her,
even had he realized that at fifteen
years girl may be something more than
child.
Miss Perris was, therefore, thrown
upon herself for all her diversions, and
she sometimes grew desperate over hel
inability to use up her time. She read
a great many novels, selected by herself,
which increased her trouble rather than
diminished it; she drove her ponies
iuriously about the country roads, Sci
the family servants by the ears SO fire.
quently that they had to be changed
every month or two, dressed expensive.
ly and in shocking taste, and made ot
herself the stock topic Of conversation
and joke among the mill hands anG
their wives.
AS the store in which Selvidge was
clerk was the only one in the village thai
kept any OF the small dress goods and
little things that even the poorest women
imperatively demand, Miss Perris sud.
denly began to do great deal of shop.
ping and at the same time Selvldge be.
gan to notice that Kate had ceased to be
a little glrl. He hesitated long time
before adding her name to his list of can.
didates for the position of wife, for the
awe in which he had been taught to
holl old Perris and his money was not
easy to overcome. Gradually, how
ever, he began to notice that Miss
Perris, while discussing possible articles
OF purchase, sometimes looked more al
him than at the goods.
This was inueed unexpected luck
instead of falling in love with money
and having to labor hard for his end
money was falling in love with him
and doing almost all the work. Sci
Yldge did not forget that it was ole
Do,ric epd NOT tho 6ouobtor who hor