Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-01-11

navy Dlue serge \F6SS0u Dack). u Ia0-
ell cambria, and old black cashmere,
hot. and du~sty-looking, made up the
sorrow display.
why didn't she buy some new
clothes" Well, there was no partic-
.ular reason except that she had no
money to buy and no time to make,
being one of the forty or more clerks
in the "Mart OF Fashion," on Wash
ington street, at salary of$6 a week.
Any one mechanically inclined can
do the sum which Molly did each
week:
S $:sn s'a9ia asd at 'Fe aT1isi,y, "a very humble
Total 81 IS
And out of the difference between this
total and six dollars must come boots,
and gloves, and hair-pins, and pocket
handkerchiefs and everything else, so
you can see that the Queen Of Sheba
was quite safe from q rival so far.as
Molly was concerned.
But this mention of the ssMart of
Fashion" brings me to the cap-sheaf
of Molly's discomfort. She had ex-
pected to have the day to herself, but
Rush & Crush, seeming possible pro.
it from country visitors, had decided
to keep open. So it was a very cross
face that looked at Molly from the
little wavy looking-glass, and the
soft brown hair was hatcheled and
twisted with very few of the little
pats and touches usually bestowed on
It, and the blue dress was donned
with some twitches. The sight Of
the breakfast table did not Tighten
her mood. She looked down it's long
length, and noted the spots, and
rings, and splashes on the coarse
cloth, the knives and forks at all
angles, and the dishes piled up, frag-
ments and all, by the untidy table
and felt an unutterable disgust for
it all.
It is not necessary to 60 into the
story of sickness, and debt. and death
which had brought her from a quiet,
refined home to be a clerk in the
Mart of Fashion and an inmate of
Widow Jackson's second-rate board
ing house; but we will start with her
this memorial morning, when, after
trying her sharp little teeth on some
tough steak and turning over on her
plate some iabby fried potatoes, she
fshed a fly out of her coffee, and took
her way to the store.
Half the long forenoon had worn
away when Mollie, with a box of tum-
bled laces before her, stood looking
after a lady who had just passed with
q cluster of violets at her throat, and
thinking wistfully of a certain place
she knew of where they grew, cool
and moist in their green leaves, when
the voice of the ubiquitous floor
walker brought her back to the pres
ent.
"Miss Perry, if you are not more
attentive I shall have to report YOU
II will save you that trouble" said
Miss Perry, and clap went the cover
on the box, and swish went the box
into its place, and Miss Perry, with
fiery red cheeks and II right eyes, went
down the long store to tide office and
rendered her resignation, ito take ef-
feet at once, if you please"
Mr.. Rush was pleased, for trade
was slackening, and there were twenty
girls for every vacancy. But you
know our rule" Yes, she knew the
rule, which was that a clerk leaving
without notice should forfeit pay
from the last Saturday night set
Element. But Mollie's ancestors did
not fight at Concord without leaving
something Of their spirit to their de.
scendants so she turned to 20 with
an air which betokened no acquaint-
ance with 'rules," when MI. Rush,
whose heart had been a trife softened
by memories of a certain grave in
Mount Auburn which would be deco
rated that day, handed out three
trade dollars, and in ten minutes
Mollie was in the common, "with all
the world before her where to choose,
The unusual leisure was so pleasant
that the girl loitered and fingered
enjoying the sunshine and the air,
and only when the noon whistle blew
did she come down to reality.
After dinner, with locked door. she
held a council of war. Here, on one
side, was Molly Perry, "a years old,
with health and hope, five dollars in
her trunk, three silver dollars in he1
pocket, and one good SUIT, and on the
other side the great, pushing, scram.
bling selfish world, eager to grasp,
and slow to give.
Molly did some hard thinking.
There's one thing sure" she thought,
Il won't tend store again, and I won't
sew for a living, and I won't be COOP.
ed up in a shop" The chances arr
narrowing fast: Suddenly came an
idea. "lll do it," said Molly; and
what it was the advertiser told next
morning:
e Wopte = BY an American girl who is a good, plain
family. Country preferred. Address, NJ. p, Ad.
vertiser Office, Boston.