Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-12-17
AN OLD BANDBOX.
1t Brought Substantial Happiness
to Several People.

/.
Mr.. Merridew had q new idea. When
Mr. Merridew had an idea the fact became
apparent to all the subjects of his domestic
kingdom, even to the house cat, as that
brindled animal sat on the counter of the
store in a moment of luxurious idleness.
Not only did Mr.. Merridew make mistakes
in giving change, and stroke pussy's fur
the wrong way, but he stared his family
out of countenance while partaking of his
supper.
"How do you like it, pa?" inquired Rosy,
for he was tasting a custard pie of her own
baking.
siwhy, think it would do very well, in
deed" he replied, briskly, and, if the truth
be told, waving his knife in the air. "There
is no reason why it should not do in Amer
lea as well as in Europe
Rosy opened her pretty blue eyes.
'The custard pie is always made on
Aunt Hannah's receipt" she said, with
housewifely dignity.
''Very nicely seasoned" assented her alb
-stracted parent "a little too much-pep-
"Well, never" exclaimed Mrs. Merri-
dew. Pepper in pie! 1 suppose you
mean nutmeg"
Mr.. Merridew rose, knocked over his
chair. 'YO on find ignorance everywhere,
the world over, and poor people," he an
nounced to his mystified womankind.
Eyes, we are poor enough" observed his
wife.
s'Eh? So we are!" retorted Mr. Merri-
dew, evidently startled into self-conscious-
ness by this sententious statement.
''oh. if Harry only had thousand dol
lars" sighed Rosy, elasping her plump
hands under her dimpled chin.
Rosy Merridew was fair to look upon,
and her presence frightened the dingy
little city room, even as it gladdened the
hearts of her parents. Sunlight and lamp
light alike rendered her hair a curling
golden halo about her fresh young face,
where an expression of trouble dawned at
that allusion to the poverty of the Merri-
dew connection. A slender purse had not
robbed the girl of a single dimple, how
ever, while the toilets devised by her
own ingenuity out of cotton print and
wool, in imitation of the silk and brocade
of fashionable show cases, were of surpris-
ing variety, and invariably becoming.
Mrs. Merridew was of a gaunt and grim
exterior. She kept vigilant eye on the
household, and was prone to "reminiscences
of the mountain village where she was
born. A pot of geraniums doomed on the
window ledge, as a SOurentr of hill pas
lures and the scent Of the woods. Mrs
Merridew could count the pennies with
frugal care, and hoard shining coins in a
money box with yellow chimney, but
she was helpless in the store, and felt oddly
shamefaced behind the counter.
"your fathers got some plan in his
head" remarked Mrs. Merridew, when the
master of the house had whisked away
from the supper table with celebrity of
movement peculiar to him.
..Of course he has," assented Rosy, nib
bling a crumb of pastry, in defiance of all
the laws concerning complexion. FEATHER
is the smartest man in New York-except
Harry"
$50 he is," affirmed Mrs. Merridew, with
loyalty y: awhile Mr. uar.;dsw had rs
turned to the store and lighted the gas.
His daughters words still echoed in his
ears. "Oh! il Harry only had a thousand
-doiIarsw He was small and wiry old
man, with shrewd and cheerful counte-
nance, blue eyes that twinkied behind his
.spectacles, and pair of large ears which
rendered the sparseness of his gray locks
the more conspicuous. An upright man,
although making SO little stir in the world,
he owed nobody a penny. "Live within
your income, il 1t is only sixpence a day."
.svas the creed of plain John Merridew. It
Dis true he enjoyed few chances of doubling
the sixpences, and perhaps would have
lacked the bold enterprise requisite to
grasp, passing opportunity by the hair in
some brilliant speculation had il come to
him.
~ wish Harry might get the thousand
dollars which would set him up in life," he
soiiloquizsd.
arranged the stock of newspapers and
fresh magazines on the counter. Books
lined the shelves, while a small circulating
library of dingy volumes in uniform bind
in. occupied one side of the place. Mr..
Merridew nodded at the books, as if taking
them into his confidence, then placed a
table in remote corner, with chair be-
hind it. He next attached a curtain OF
green cambria to q hook in the wall by a
loon, and drew it across the intervening
space to a second hook in the opposite
wall. thus screening the table from public
view. An inkstand, rack of pens and
case of white ruled paper were supple
mentsd. A large piece of pasteboard fash
toned into placard was produced from
draw er of the table, and bore these words,
inscribed in large characters:
LETTERS WRITTEN HERE.
APPLY WITHIN.
The bell attached to the door tinkled
sharply. A young woman approached,
and glancing over the curtain at Mr.. Mer-
ridew, burst into a musical laugh. At the
same moment Rosy ran in to greet the new
conner, and paused in surprise at the
unusual aspect of her father seated in the
cmtained recess.
.Laugh on, girls, )" said the little old man,
rubbing his hands together with good
humor. "Glad to see you. Maggie, my
dear. Perhaps the curtain should be
ieetle higher-eh?-as you can see over it.
was reading in the Newspaper this morn
ing about the public letter writer of other
lands. There is the scribe of the East with
his horn in his girdle, ready to do any
maG:s bidding, and there is the letter
WRITER OF Italy, Spain and France, with