The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1884-04-26

he does so he notices that there is new
glri at the glove counter, just opposite.
only her head Is visible above the pile
OF boxes she Is busting. It is crowned
with red gold hair, and the facs is very
beautiful In spite of the hopeless depres-
sion 1t expresses.
Presently the business of the day be-
gins. Whenever there comes a pause
IN his monotonous labor of stamping
Oils and making change, and he looks
out over the green wire network that
lncioses his desk, his eyes rest naturally
upon the blonde head..and delicate figure,
because they are directly in front of him,
and III the course of the day he learns
without making any inquiries that she is
No. AZ.
As for the girl herself, she is thinking
OF nothing but the terrible day and
wondering if she will live through it.
Her face is flushed, her eyes are glisten-
ing and feverish; the joint result of bad
ventilation and bewildering transac-
tions
10 her this first day behind the coun-
ter seems shoreless eternity. She can
scarcely remember when it began. and
has almost lost faith in IT'S possible end
ing. Two hours of this new and irving
ordeal are enough to make her unutter-
ably weary; before the day is half over
she is aching miserably in every limb
and JOINT. After this standing is the
pnrest agony. And all day long the fem
lnlne division OF humanity bears down
upon them en- masse. The proprietors,
welded to quick sales and the largest
possible profit, are positively ubi al III
tous IN their efforts to enforce the strict
est attention to duty; obsequious sales
men, with an eye to premiums and per-
centage, step briskly about; cash boys
scurry hither and thither, and errand
boys find no rest for the soles of their
feet. The silk man spreads his stocks
upon the counter and displays the pop
ular shades by daylight, by gaslight,
slngly and In combinations. He gath
ers them up into soft, rich folds, spreads
them, gathers them up again, talking
gl1bly all the while, and is borne to the
limit of deferential patience before the
exact shade is found and the final decis-
Ion made. The lace man, on the alert
for whom he may beguile, is bland and
courteous, while the girls at this glove
counter dive among the boxes and be-
come breathless in the attempt to con-
vince some dubious customer that a
pearl gray glove is an exact match for
the pale blue sample she has brought,
or vice versa, smiling, dropping words
of honey all the time, and wishing in
their lnmost consciousness that perdi-
ton may ultimately collect all woman
kind.
Mt ~
toners 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: eff you
don't hurry out they will lock the doors.
Every body else is gone now"
Chow will 1 ever get home" she
means. rising YEARLY, her eyes still red
from crying.
''Tll go with you if you are afraid. Is
it far?"
ooh, yes, it's far, and then I'm so
tired"
He is the only person who has spoken
to her to-day, except the customers she
has waited upon. He has such a grace
ful, easy way that by the time he has
helped her to put on her cloak he seems
like an old acquaintance. They hurry
out together, and are just in time, for
the doors close behind them with a
bang, and the bolts are drawn.
1t happens that theii ways lie in the
same direction. that they are domiciled
IN two dreary boarding houses not more
than half a square apart, and after this
they go home together every evening,
and speedily come to be very good
friends indeed.