The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-05-22
ONE OF THE MANY.

little wife-and their baby daughter was
two months old.
He was fine fellow was Jim-well set
up, and good to look at; chivalrous. up
right and honest as the day. But though
he came of a good stock--of which he was
the last-he was only clerk in a London
architects office, with misera-
BILE salary of el00 a year, which,
of course, he might lose with his situa-
ton any day. Ii will be clear, 1
hope, to the meanest understanding that
under these circumstances he had not the
smallest right to think OF matrimony. So
when he had the audacity to propose for
Marjory Linton, niece and ward of the
pompous and wealthy old Joseph Linton
| Of Manchester, that gentleman gave him a
very short shrift, and promptly showed
him the door. And when, month later,
| pretty, independent Mariory ran away
with the same handsome, impecunious
/ Jim Carol, her irate uncle-to use his
own expression washed his hands OF
I her and closed his doors against her and
/ her husband forever" At this terrible
sentence Marjory did not trouble herself
very much, nor did her husband suffer it
to affect his peace of mind. He was too
| happy to care whether all the rich old
men in Europe closed their doors against
| him-or otherwise.
They lived in q tiny house in q red
bricked, pointed gabled terrace at Cam
/ berwell and they had enough to do to
! pay the rent and to make ends meet
/ generally, especially after the baby came.
But they loved each other passionately,
and that made things easier. Marjory was
the most sunny-hearted and hopeful of
/ little women, and she was quite sure that
some day Dorntou & Cox-awakening to
n sense of Jim's abilities-would take him
! into partnership and make his fortune.
! But alas! for Marjory's dream, on the
particular evening on which this story
opens Carol was vending his way home
ward dejectedly enough, for Dornton &
/ Cox, having had heavy losses lately, were
reducing their staff OF clerks, and among
I those dismissed to-day was James Carol.
! Jim felt stunneda and bewildered, for situa-
! tons were not as plentiful as blackberries
in London in 1884, any more than they
are now.
"Oh, Jim, how late you are :" cried little
/ Mrs. Carol, as she few to the door to
meet her husband Il thought you were
never coming! had 10 put baby to bed
/ at last"
]
sently. as he followed her into the small
/ but coy sitting-room.
! He looked depressed and out of sorts,
Marjory thought. Perhaps he had one OF
/ his bad headaches But like wise little
I wife she asked no questions; only poured
/ out his tea and gave him his slippers. He
/ did not eat anything, she noticed, but
! sent up his cup to be filled again and
/ again, draining it each time feverishly.
He was very silent, too.
rs anything the matter, DEAR" his
( wife said at last, in anxious tones.
Eyes, Marjory," he answered, with an
| effort. Then, after pause, he told her.
For a moment her sunny face was
clouded; this was a contingency which
! they never contemplated. Then she said
/ bravely:
Never mind, jim. 1t will not be diff
cult for you to get another situation. /
! see scores of advertisements in the papers
/ every day."
But Carol was not so sanguine He
/ was OF more gloomy temperament than
! NIarjory and would not be cheered, not
! even when baby woke up and smiled and
/ cOoed IN his face, as was her wont.
"You see, jim" said Mariorv. cheerilv.
/ I'VE have still good part left of your last
/ salary. 1t is not quarter-day yet for a
/ good while, and we can economic in little
/ things. We might let Ann 60 ANN was
1 the small maid-of-all-work) she is really
+ getting very careless; she broke three
| plates yesterday. If | have a charwoman
/ to come Saturdays | can easily manage
the work myself Baby is so good, and
requires so little attention"
Jim put his arm around her as she
knelt beside him.
Dear little woman" he said, III
couldn't let you do that. Not vet, at
/ least"
They studied the paper diligently day
after day. Carroll answered innumerable
( advertisements, both by post and per-
sonally. but in vain, though he spent an
/ alarming sum in postage stamps, and re-
turned night after night weary, heartsick
and footsore.
! The days went on; quarter-dav drew
near and passed, and the Carols little
/ store of money melted away. For the baby
| had been i'll, and several tradesmen's bills.
! small but Imperative, had TO be paid The
weather was oppressively hot and ener-
| waiting, and Mariory's little face began 10
/ look pinched and worn, for the baby was
| peevish and fretful, requiring constant
/ nursing and attention, and the servant
/ had been dismissed some time ago
! Another week passed. Jim felt almost
| desperate, for he could obtain no employ
ment, and to make matters worse. the
/ baby fell i'll again. 1t seemed kind OF
wasting, nameless illness. She cried and
walled night and day and grew almost
| hourly more shadowy-looking. The doc
| tor, whom Carroll at last called in shook
his head, asked few questions, advised
/ change of air and ordered the young
/ mother to take ''plenty of nourishlng
| food" With a view to furthering the lat
/ ter oblect-change of air being out of the
/ question-Jim pawned his watch and
| chain. Poor fellow, he felt shamfaced and
| embarrassed enough as he took the ticket
and Duttoned bis coat over his now
chainless waistcoat. But the money so
/ obtained kept them going for some little
! time; and Carol, meanwhile, did not for
a day relax his efforts TO obtain employ
/ ment. He searched with anxious dill
! gence in each evenings paper the column
/ devoted to vacant situations" and an-
swered various advertisements which
seemed singUlarlv suitable. But those
who have studied that column-not for
/ amusement or curiosity, but for dear life
know that of these advertisements only
too many are simply swindles, and that
I the comparatively few which are bona
1ide are speedily secured by those who
/ have either influence or the experience,
/ which jim Carol had not He set off
every morning for the city, neglected no
II