The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-02-06
Selected Storp.
Buttons.

teenth street dry goods store, to her
friend, Mary Simonds.
Mary blushed and looked guilty, al
though she hastily disclaimed any
knowledge of the person alluded to.
How should | know where he is?
don't even know his name. | can't
imagine why you girls are always teas
ing me about him." And Mary petu-
ltntly went on with her work of re-
arranging the disordered showcase,
and with feminine tact displaying the
newest goods in the most conspicuous
places.
But, despite her disclaimer, pretty
Mary was thinking more about But
tons " than she was willing to confess.
In fancy she could see his broad shout
ders and the half-bashful, half-con-
scious smile on his face as he appeared
before her counter on the previous
week. He certainly was strong young
man. She could tell that by his brown,
muscular hand. And besides, there
was such an honest look in his eyes.
She recalled his hesitation, too, when
he asked for the buttons, from which
the girls had nicknamed him, and Mary
argued from his ingenious and his re-
| SpCCllul lidnucI tudJ ut IluSJ NC ell
tirely different from the young men
whom she encountered on her way
home at night, and whose bold glances
of admiration always made her blush.
A hundred times day Mary found
herself looking down the long store
toward the door, expecting and even
hoping, although she did not confess
the hope to herself, that he would come
again. Twice he had been there al
ready, and, to tell the truth, he had
bought enough buttons to keep him in
those useful articles for five years.
What he could want with so many
buttons was more than Mary could
divine.
In anticipation of his coming Mary
arranged and rearranged the buttons
in the case. There was an almost end.
less variety of buttons--China buttons,
bone buttons, wooden buttons covered
with cloth, glass buttons, iris-tinted re-
fleeing the gas-light in cleaning rays.
But not one of these shone so brightly
as the eyes which had met hers over
the counter for one brief moment and
then had been hidden by the long
lashes which dropped over them.
The chances of his coming back
seemed very small indeed to Mary when
she remembered that he had bought
enough buttons to start small store.
Il wonder if he is going to sew them
on himself?' said Mary to herself, a
smile indenting two dimples in her
cheeks. If he does he will have but
tons all over him."
In fancy Mary could see him sitting
in his shirt-sleeves, with a slender
needle between his clumsy thumb and
foretinger, trying to fasten button on
his shirt. She could see it all. The
compressed lip, the slip of the needle
as it stole under his thumb-nail, the
muttered imprecation, and she laughed
at her thoughts in such a merry way
that the floor-walker censured her, and
she resumed her work with a conscious
blush.
But the memory of " Buttons " gradu-
ally faded from Mary's mind as the
weeks went by. He did not put in an
appearance again, and, as the girls
stopped their chatting, there was nothing
left for the interest TO feed upon. Then
came the Anti-poverty fair, in which a
great many of the girls were interested
Their sympathetic hearts were attracted
by the golden hopes of a possible era
when all want, all misery, all poverty
would be done away with by the new
theories which were so rife in this city.
What comforts, new dresses, unlimited
ice-cream were contained in that magic
word, anti-poverty."
And so, urged on by her desire to
help the community at large, and per-
hn
going to be benefited personally by the
movement, Mary entered into the fair
with all the zeal of a zealot.
She was assigned to take care of a
stand containing articles of virtu and
bric-a-brac, and in addition to these was
an assortment OF -buttons-a most
beautiful array, made of gold, pearl,
onyx, and some inlaid with precious
stones.
Every night after the store closed
Mary fastened, sometimes very tired
and footsore from standing all day, to
Madison Square Garden. There were
pretlier girls than Mary behind some
of the counters, but none with more
demure and winning manner, none
with a more sunshiny smile or brighter
eyes, and so the table over which she
presided had no lack of customers.
One night when the band was play
ing and the bunting shining in the gas
light, Mary looked up and found " But
tons " confronting her. AS their eyes
met he stammered:
sob, excuse me, miss. l didn't
know it was you. just called around
to see if-if-"
" If what?" said Mary, kindly, anx-
ious to relieve his embarrassment.
The young man fingered his cane un-
easily, and carefully averted his gaze
from Mary, for he could feel that she
anticipated his want. Then he mus
tered up courage and said:
If you had any buttons"
Before she could reply, he added,
hastily, "The fact is that those buttons
| bought of you, down at the store, had
such small eyes that could not get the
thread through them. 1t may be that the
thread was too coarse. But, hang
it ALL" he continued, his embarrass-
ment melting away before her assuring