, 1882-06-23

face. A thousand dollars would not
support them for q lifetime in a
few months, even with close econ
omy, they would have to begin to
work, and they wisely concluded it
was better to do so at once than to
wait until driven to it by positive
necessity.
1--WE must move into smaller
house." said Maggie, land I think
our best plan is to open a milliner's
store. l can make bonnets and trim
hats, and you can keep house" "
"We need not move, dear. The
house is mine"
Il thought papa rented it."
80 he did, but last night Mr.,
Harris told me he had, as our lawyer,
received the deeds of the house, made
out in my name, and paid for to the
last cent. l think your father must
have intended it for surprise on my
birthday, the 9th of February"
But Wilfred Mansfield was again
the only man who knew that Mr..
Clinton had never seen the deeds of
his wife's house.
"Can we have the front altered to
a store ?" said practical Maggie.
1t was found not only practicable,
but desirable as increasing the value
of the property, and in a few weeks,
quite early enough for some of the
spring trade to fall to her share, Mag
gle started in business as a milliner
She had thought the offer Of mar
riage yet might come, but her last
hope was dispelled by a note written
to her mother by Wilfred Mansfield
He informed them that he had dis
posed of his business, and was about
to accept q situation in Chicago, the
nature of which he did not state.
He bade them farewell, with assur-
ances of warmest friendship; that
was all. Gentle Mrs. Clinton but
rarely had a hard thought for any
one, still more rarely spoke a bitter
word, but she said:
Il suppose he thought your father
was a richer man.. "
Maggie could not answer. The
loving, loyal heart could not yet ad-
NIT the entire unworthiness of its
idol She could find no excuse for
what seemed heartless desertion, so
she accepted her mothers comment,
and Wilfred Mansfield was mentioned
no more between them.
Never was a milliners store con
Quoted more tastefully or with more
industry than the one opened bv
Maggie Clinton. The little maiden
worked early and late bonnets of
exquisite finish, hats in the most ap-
proved fashion, adorned her window;
yet, although she had fair share of
custom, her expenses would exceed
her sales. She was inexperienced in
wholesale prices, in the proper Sc
lection of her goods, in the care
necessary to prevent a ruinous over
stock Of old-fasbioned goods, in the
knack of re-shaping and altering to
more fashionable styles The little
details Of business that can only be
learned by experience were all mys-
teries to her, and when winter came,
she found the thousand dollars had
melted down to three hundred, in
spite of the economy and industry
she and her mother had carefully ex-
ercised.
1t was useless to think of new
business. Teaching would separate
them, and Maggie was not fitted for a
teacher. The exercise she command
ed now did not keep off a weakness
of the chest, occasioned by the
necessary sewing, and the doctor
had told her that teaching would kill
her in few years. Besides, what
little experience of the details of
business she had gained, was in
the milliner's trade, and it was surely
wasting time to learn something
new. So the store was still kept
open, and the weary struggle for q
living maintained.
st. Valentines Day, so full of bit
ter memories, rose clear and bright,
and the postman tossed a snowy en-
velope upon the counter. 1t was
directed to Miss Margaret Clinton,
and had city stamp.
"An order or a bill," she said
opening it.
Inside, sheet Of creamy white
paper was folded round bank note
for five hundred dollars, and two
words only were written upon it
Yours, st. Valentine.
Maggie thought Of tiny forget
me-not in her small box OF treasures,
and tossing note and envelope into
her mothers lap, ran up stairs in an
agony Of tears.
1t would make my story too long
to picture Maggie Clinton's life in
the five years that followed the death
of her father. Every year the mys-
terious valentine containing bank
note came to help the widow and her
child in their struggle with the
world, but when the fifth of Febru-
ary came round, Maggie was all
alone. Mrs. Clinton had joined her
husband in the better land, and the