West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1884-03-21

many swallows into chimney, but
that it is the wrong time i'm the day
Shades are raised, covers taken of, and
simultaneously i'm every part of the
house begins vigorous dusting and
! putting TO rights.
The new cashier, young man with
fine eyes and pleasant manner, who
has been some three weeks i'm the estab-
lishment, comes in and goes behind his
| desk. AS he does so he notices that
there is "A new girl at tho glove counter
just opposite. Only her head is visible
above the pile of boxes she is dusting
IL is crowned with red-gold hair, and
the face is very beautiful in spite OF the
hopeless depression it expresses.
Presently the business of the day be-
| gins. Whenever there comes n pause
in his monotonous labor of stamping
bills and making change. and he looks
out over the green wire network that
incloses his desk, his eyes rest naturally
upon the blonde head and delicate ig-
urc, because they are directly i'm front
OF him, and i'm the course of the dav he
learns without making any inquiries
that she is No. AZ.
AS for the girl herself, she is thinking
| OF nothing but that terrible day, and
wondering whether she will live through
it. Her face is flushed, her ewes glist-
ening and fevcrish, the Joint result OF
bad ventilation and bewildering trans.
actions.
To her this first day behind the coun
ter seems shoreleSs eternity. She
can scarcely remember when il bcran.
and has almost lost faith in its possible
ending. Two hours Of this new and
trying ordeal are enough to make her
unutterably weary; before the day is
half over she is aching miserably i'm
every limb and joint. After this, stand
ing is the purest agony. And all dav
long the feminine division of humanity
bears down upon them en- masse. The
proprietors, welded to quick sales and
the largest possible profit. are positive
ly ubiquitous in their efforts TO enforce
the strictcst attention TO duty; obsedui-
Gus salesmen with an eye to premi-
ums and percentage step brskly about:
cash-bOys scurry hither and thither. and
errand-boys find no rest for the soles OF
their feet. The silk man spread his
stock upon the counter and displays the
popular shades. by daylight, by gas
light, singly and in combinations. He
gathers them up into soft, rich folds.
spreads them, gathers them up again.
talking glibly all the while, and is
borne to the utmost limit of deferenta al
patience before the exact shade is
found and the final decision made The
lace man, on the alert for whom be
my beguile, is bland and courteous.
while the girls ut this same glove
counter dive among the boxes and be-
come breathless in the attempt 30 CON
vince some dubious customers that n
! pearl-gray glove is an exact match for
! the pale-biue sample she has brought.
/ or vice versa, smiling, dropping words
| OF honey all the time, and wishing i'm
their inmost consciousness that perdi-
/ ton may ultimately collect all woman
| kind.
| But ii does end at last. The custom
/ crS are gone; the curtains are up. the
/ counters are again shrouded in white
canvas, making the long aisles look like
so many wards in hospital. and these
human swallows begin to pour out of
their great chimney.
The cashier on his way TO the cloak
room sees No. AZ crouching on the ledge
behind her counter. She is thinking OF
the long, dark streets that lie before
her, and of the aching feet that protest
/ against further service.
When he comes back she is still there.
He stops, and says kindly: IF YOU
don't hurry out they will lock the doors.
Everybody else is gone now"
GLOW will ever get home" she
means Using YEARLY, her eyes still red
| from crying.
"Ill go with you if you are AFRAID.
Is it far?'
80, yes, it's far, and then | am so
tired. lie is the only person who has
| spoken TO her to-day. excepting the Gus
toners she has waited upon. He has
such graceful, easy way, that by the
time he has helped her to put on Ter
cloak he seems like an old acquaint-
ance. They hurry out together. and
are just in time, for the doors close be-
hlnd them with bang, and the bolts
are drawn.
1t happens that their WAYS lie in the
| same direction, that they are domiciled
/ In two dreary board ny houses not moro
Than half square apart, and after this
they go home together every evening.
ana speedily come to be very 90 I'd
friends indcc !.
The season known to retail traffic IA
"busy' WAKES and wanes. Summer
I comes. and Augu {. swcltcrny. intoler.
able settled upon the deserted town.
The houses are like ovens. the streets
Ike blast furnaces. aud cyerytbing that
remains behind the migratory populq-
ton Is undergoing a lingering process,
OF cremation. The proprietOrs have fed
the heat. one salesman to- a department
is found TO be sufficient and the re +
are away taking their summer vacation.
Those who min behind have little 10
do, for there are hours together when
there is not penny worth sold
II happened that "37 is rci0n:n,
alone in thc glove department. ana sbc
is n refrc- hing OBJ ect for contamination
this sullry teruoon i'm her Dire Of
blue organdy, with pale ribbons nuitor-
ing at throat and vast
Above her heal her wares are most
effectively displayed in n complete can
opy of long wristcd gloves I'm every con
ccivablc color and shade oacolor ap
there being nothing else 20 do. she sit.
upon the lodge below the shelving and
Yields % mon,truu- palm-leaf
When no hing Is selling there is ma
change to be made. and the cashier
steps out 81 bis narrow. sitting incIos.
urc and wand r- ion search Of "a roo g..
Inc long lace mifs That frin. the rar,9.
pN over the glOyc-cOunter are stirred a.
li bF zephyr and the airy freshness
OH 80 i- attra tive He goes behind