Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1884-03-14

out oyer tnc green WIRE network that
incloses his desk, his eyes rest naturally
upon the blonde head and delicate fig
ure, because they are directly in front
of him, and in 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 that terrible day, and
wondering whether she will live through
it. Hor face is flushed, her eyes glist.
cning and feverish, the Joint result of
bad ventilation and bcwildering trans
actions.
To her this first day behind the coun
ter seems shoreleSs eternity. She
can scarcely remember when il began,
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 misorably in
every limb and joint. After this, stand
ing is the purest agony. And all day
long the feminine division of humanity
bears down upon them en- masse. The
proprictors, welded TO quick sales and
the largest possible profit, are positive
| ly ubiquitous in their efforts to enforce
the strictcst attention to duty; obsequi-
GUS salesmen with an eve to premi-
ums and percentage step briskly about;
cash-boys scurry hither and thither, and
crrand-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 deferental
patience before the exact shade is
found and the final decision made. The
lace man, on the alert for whom he
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 to con-
vince some dubious customers that u
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 inmost consciousness that perdi-
tion may ultimately collect all woman
| kind.
But it does end at last. The custom
ers are gone; the curtains are up, the
counters are again shrouded in white
canvas, making the long aisles look like
so many wards in a hospital and these
human swallows begin to pour out of
their great chimney.
The cashier ON his way to the cloak
room sees No. a 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.n
"How will L ever get home,n she
moans, rising wearily, her eyes still red
from crying.
"pll go with you if you are afraid.
Is it. farp'
80, yes, it's far, and then l am SO
tired" ;" He 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 bv the
time he has helped her to put on her
cloak he seems like an old acquaint-
ance. They hurry out together, and
are Just in time, for the doors close be-
hind 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 boarding houses not more
than half square apart, and after this
they go home together every evening
and speedily come to be very goot
friends indeed.
The season known to retail traffic a.
"busyn wakes and wanes. Summer
comes, and August, sweltering, intoler
able, settled upon the deserted town
The houses are like ovens, the street!
like blast-furnaccs, and everything thai
, remains behind the migratory popula
ton is undergoing n lingering process.
of cremation. The proprietors have FLED
the heat, one salesman to department
is found to be sufficient, and the rest
are away taking their summer vacation
Those who remain behind have little tc
do, for there are hours together when
there is not Il penny's worth sold
1t happened that "I7' is reignino
alone in the glove departments and she
is refreshing object for contemplation
this sultry afternoon in her dress of
blue organdy, with pale ribbons futter-
ing Mt throat and waist.
Above her head her wares are most
effectively displayed in II complete can
opy of long -wristed gloves in every con-
ceivable color and shade of color, and,
there being nothing else to do, she sits
upon the ledge below the shelving and
wields u monstrous palm-leai.
When nothing is selling there is no
change to be made, and the cashier
steps out of his narrow, sitting inclos-
ure and wanders in search of breeze.
The long lace mits that fringe the cano-
py over the glove-counter are stirred as
if by zephyr, and the airy freshness
of AZ" is attractive. He goes behind
the counter and sits down upon the
ledge.
"You look awfully gloomy to-day,
What is the matterp" she asks.
"Well, have reason to look gloomy.
have made an unpleasant discovery;
or perhaps ! should say, I've been un-
pleasantly discovered"
"Tell me about it"
80 it is long story" he says, more
than half persuaded.
''This is very long afternoon.
''Well, | have a very rich and very
crochety old uncle, and about seven
months ago received letter from him
him telling me that if / would come
and take charge of his business and
marry girl that he had picked out for
me he would leave me his fortune. He
said the girl was pretty. and / knew the
fortune was ample, and as | was not
getting along very well where l was
you will infer that l did not hesitate
long before accepting the proposition
1t was all arranged with the girl, who
seemed TO be quite fascinated with the
romance of the affair, and started for
the town in which she and my uncle
lived. But on the way got to thinking
about it, and ii struck me that / would
like to see her at least once before the
die was irreyocably cast, so when |
reached the town / hunted up a cousin
OF mine who knew her and told him he
must arrange for me to call on her in