Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-02-28
BRINBRIDGE & son.

conversation IN the dreSSmakIng de
partment of the large drapery estab-
lishment of Messrs Bainbridge &c Son
which the steady whir of a hundred
sewing machines could hot drown.
Where the presence of feminine can
be found, be sure the tongue of the
feminine will be heard
The uperintendent of the room, I'M
Outstanding this, did not attempt to
enforce silence, sOpretty Dolly Wynn
and May Bruton talked very conf
IDENTIFY IN their corner of the great
room; and no one interfered, so long
as fingers were busy as well as tong
ues.
And this was what May said Dol
quilting on which she was at work:
i saw her yesterday when l was
going out to dinner. She was just
stepping into her carriage, and Mr.
Edgar himself handing her in She
looked old-nearly 40, | should say /;
but they say she is immensely rich, and
her dress was splendid. SO I suppose
her mOpcy goes against her age.
Did you hear that they were to be
married soOn?"
BLESS me! didn't [ tell you that?
My brother is in the statiOner's where
the wedding-cards are being printed
They are TO be married on the 9th
Mr. and Mrs Edgar cambridge, and
the card of the brides mother Mrs.
William Wilson. Twelve Come we
will go for a walk"
mo / am tired" Dollie pleaded.
And her friend left her, never heed
ing the sudden pallor of the sweet
young face, the dumb agony in the
great blue eyes.
When she was alone Dolie stole
away to the little room where the
cloaks, shawls and hats of the girls
were kept, and there, crOuching in a
corner, hidden entirely by huge
waterproof, she tried to think it all
out.
What had it meant? What did
Edgar cambridge mean in the long
year he had tried by every masculine
device to win her love?
She had not been unmaidenIy;
heart and conscience fully acquitted
her
She had given her love, pure, true
and faithful, to the son Of her en-
ployer; but he had sOughtit, delicate
ly and perslstently. before he knew
that 1t was given.
The young girl, now sewing for a
living, had been daintily bred and
thoroughly educated, her father hav-
ing been a man drawing salary suf-
ticient TO give his only child every adj
vantage. But when he died, and his
wife IN a few months followed him,
Dollie had chosen a life of honorable
labor in preference to one Of idle de
pendence upon wealthy relatives.
And yet in the social gatherings of
these relatives and the friends of sum
mer days, Dollie was still a welcomed
guest.
1t was at her Uncle Lawrence's sub
urban villa. she had been introduced
to Edward cambridge. After this she
met him frequently, and in her SIM
pie dress, with her sweet, pure face,
had won marked attention from him.
With the frankness that was one of
her greatest charms, the young girl
had let her admirer know that though
she was Lawrence Wynn's niece, she
worked for a living in the dressmak-
ing department of Bainbridge & Son.
Then ne had made her heart bound
with sudden, grateful JOY, by telling
her he had seen her leave the shop
night after night, but would not join
her for fear of giving annoyance by
exposing her to the remarks of her
companions.
After this, however, she often
found him waiting for her at some
point further from the establishment,
and always so respectful and cour-
teous that she was glad of his prOtec-
ton in her long walk.
But he was going to marry an
heiress on the 9th, only week away,
SO be had but .trifled with her after
all
Poor little Dollie, crouching among
the shawls and cidaks, felt as if all
sunshine was gone from her life for
ever, as if her cup of humiliation
and agony was full to Overlooking.
But the dinner hour was over, the
girls coming 10 or sauntering from
resting places in the workroom, and
the hum of work commenced again,
as 1t must, whatever aching hearts or
weary hands crave rest
Dollie worked with the rest, her
feelings SO numbed by the sudden
blow that she scarcely heard Mays
lamentations over a sudden flood of
order work that would keep many
of them IN the room till midnight.
We'll have all day tomorrow if
we can finish these dresses tonight
said one of the small SQUAD of girls
told off for the extra work Miss
Brown says so. But these must be
ready to deliver IN the morning.
Talk, talk, talk Whir, whir, whir
Dollie folded and basted, working