The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1886-04-08

finished within ten days, and old
Blair will pay you seventy-fye dollars
for them, if they suit exactly. He
says you are to find the material, as
you did before, for they must be per-
feet match
Nellie sat silently calculating mat
ters and things in her mind.
4 am afraid / shall not make much
profit out OF it, she said. But 1 will
accept the commission; it may lead
to better things.
And so she set herself diligently to
work, scarcely pausing long enough
to eat or sleep, so anxious was she to
complete the order, and receive the
promised compensation.
For she reasoned within herself,
we owe the doctor so much already
that am ashamed to look him in the
face; and he is so kind, so faithful in
his visits, III could pay him even
five dollars, it would be load off my
mind
The upshot of the business was that
poor Nellie finished the draperies, but
fell in with a nervous exhaustion and
over-fatigue the very next day. The
doctor, tall, handsome young man,
with dark, Spanish eyes, and a profile
like cameo, shook his head, and
said:
You have overdone yourself, Miss
Nellie
And then Nellie made her confes-
sion, and told him of the Herculean
task she had just completed.
4 am to receive seventy-fve dellars
for this she said, TO be sure, owe
forty for the material, but then there
will be thirty-fve dollars left; and we
owe money to our landlord; and there
is last months bill at the grocery yet
unpaid, and poor mamma needs lit
tie wine, and
Il See,' said the doctor, shrewdly.
But | am afraid, Miss Nellie, it will
be dear thirty-fve dollars for you.
AS he sat at the table writing pre-
scription, the door opened, and Miss
Minnie Wray came in.
Minnie Wray a bright little damsel
Of twenty or so,-one of the shop-girls
at Messrs. Blair & Co.'s,-and she was
full of news.
Did you hear, Nellie, she cried,
without at first noticing the presence
Of the dark-eyed stranger in the cor
ner, your lovely embroidery has been
sold for five hundred dollars? And
your fortune is made!'
All that / received was seventy-fve
dollars, said Nellie, her cheeks flush
ing.
Then, cried Minnie, old Miser
Blair has been at his old tricks again |
l heard the bargain myself 1t was
Mrs. st. Clair who bought the cur
tains-Mrs. st. Clair, of Fifth Avenue,
and
The doctor looked quickly up, as
Nellie made her sign to stop.
1T is my mother he said, quietly.
4 am DR.. st. Clair! So she has pur-
chased the portiereS, has she? Well,
of one thing / am very certain, she
has been no party to this miserable
double-dealingP
No, sir, certainly not said Minnie
herself blushing very becoming pink.
4 heard the whole bargain. She sup
posed that Mr.. Blair had cabled to
Paris for them. And he allowed her
to believe SOP
The man must be a Thoroughbred
william, said DR.. st. Clair, compress
ing his lips. My mother shall be in
formed OF his base behavior
But all that did but little immediate
good to poor Nellie Fling, who fell in
to low fever, and lay at deaths door
for weeks; and when she recovered
DIR. St. Clair took her hand in his.
Nellie, he said, If you had died, all
life's sunlight would have died, also
for me. never knew, until you
seemed to be drifting out into the 9th.
er world, how very, very dear you
were to me-
Mrs. St. Clair came, too.
My dear she said, tenderly takins
the sick girls transparent hand in
hers, 4 am shocked to think how neal
my draperies came to bringing you
your death. But I shall love then
more dearly than ever, now. Ant
you must make haste and get vel
enough to be married very soon in
Decd
So Nellie Fling became engaged, al
most without any act or volition O
her own And little Karl and tht
sick mother wereluxuriously provided
for, now, and life was all sunshine
Except to Mr.. Blair, who lost Mrs, 81
Clair's custom for good and all.
Things happened very awlywardl,