The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1886-01-09
CARRY'S CUSTOMER.
BY HELEN FORREST GRAVES.

sMy first day at the store!" said
Carry Wallingford, with curious thrill
through her, as ii an ice-cold stream
were trlckling down her spinal column.
ooh, | wish were a rich girl, and
didn't have to work /"
"Work is honorable, my child, " said
old Uncle Wolsey, who with his specta-
cles on his nose, was trying to spell
through the illegible paragraphs OF the
daily paper, muttering to himself that
''either they didn't print as good as
they used to, or else his old eyesight
was falling
eyes, | know" Auttered Garry;
"but-but Pm very willing that some
one else should have the honor this
time"
Uncle WoIsey turned his glasses,
with mild reproach, upon his neice's
pink and white balsam of face.
"My girl, said he, you're not afraid
work, are you?"
sNo, unclel" Carrie family an
swered; "but you know it's all so
strange
ait won't be strange long" cheerily
encouraged the old man. cts won
derful how soon the good Lord ac-
customs us to things, when once we
set about our duty"
81 wish | could be as brave as you,
Uncle Wolsey" said Carry, as she tied
the crimson strings OF her little capOte
under her round chin.
Old Wolsey Wallingford had shell
tered his little pet lamb by his hearth
fold all her lifetime until now. He was
ieweler by trade, and he had kept his
unpretending store open as long as
possible But the tide of fashion went
by, and left him stranded on the I'M
frequented side street, where the sign
oil the furnished silver watch attracted
no further attention.
And one day, when he had sat all
day in the window with his magnifying
glass, working at some impossible old
time piece, whose owner had died and
never called for it, the twilight crept
darby over his eyesight and his heart.
He LAID down his tools.
"All day long said he, land never a
customer Well-a-day it is time for
the old man to shut up his store at
last"
He went out and put up the wooden
shutters, with heart that was heav-
Ter than they, and from that time
thencetorward, the wooden imitation
OF the silver watch swung no longer
over the door.
Uncle Wolsey had been conquered in
LIES battle, and had laid down his
arms, and now it was that Carry re-
luctantly threw herself into the breach.
How could she let the dear old man
starve? And Mr.. Pick-ull's fancy and
dry goods store ON Sixth Avenue was
really a very creditable establishment,
and Mrs. Pickrell herself had promised,
from the severe heights of the cashier s
desk, to "keep an eye" upon old Mr..
Walingford's niece, and If her services
proved desirable, there was no sort oil
doubt but that her salary would be in.
creased in time.
SO Garry buttoned up her sack, drew
on her neat lisle-thread gloves, and
took the little basket, in which
wrapped in napkin, was packed her
lunch OF apple pie and cheese, and
went forth to meet her new career, lit.
tie reckoning how brief it was to be.
At first it wag not very pleasant
The store was small and stuffy, with
gorgeous piles OF cretonne and chintz at
the door, and festoons Of laces, silk
handkerchiefs and colored Jerseys flap,
ping against the heads of the girls be,
hind the counter, of whom there were
three besides Carry-bold, high-voiced
damsels, who wore their hair down
over the bridge OF their noses, and gig.
gled necessarily.
Customers came and went, change
was made, and paper parcels expedi-
tiously wrapped up.
Mr. Pickrell walked the floor with
his hands in his pockets, ordered away
small girls whose noses were tlattened
too persistently against the windows
outside, and smiled benignly on old
ladies who stopped to examine the
quality of the Chintzes and fanne
suitings.
Mrs. Pickrell reprimanded theyoung
women with the banged hair for gig
Cling too loud when there were custom.
ers in the store, and called to Carry
to mind what she was about" when
box OF ribbons fell of the counter
upon the floor.
Carry grew very weary, her head be
gan to ache, and she wondered how
long it would be before shutting ur
time"
At last a tall, brown-faced young
man came in, wearing foreign-looking
coat trimmed with fur, and somehow
bearing IN his aspect the indescriba.
bic stamp OF belonging to some other
country.
One OF the banged haired nymphs
was eating her lunch; the second had
rushed up the street to get change fol
a ten-dollar bill, and the third was
engaged In matching an impossible
shade OF ribbon for young lady who
was determined not TO be pleased with
anything.
Garry y shriIly signaled Mrs. Pick.
rell.
And our heroine advanced valiantly
TO the rescue.
What can | show you?" she asked
tlmldly, OF the new customer.
six, please, said the young man.
And when Carry perceived that he
was considerably more embarrassed
than herself, she took courage.
What color2' said she.
II don [ know" answered the Gus,
toner, that is, haven't quite made
gest-'' e
What Is it ior?" Carry asked. with
mild liberation OF his evident bewilder-
ment; and ct the same time she could
not help perceiving that he was very
handsome, with wavy black hair and
dark, liquid eyes, long lashes. and
pleasant to look upon.
For dress"
"A dress But is II for q vour,