Middletown transcript., 1891-07-09

Defeat may be victory in disguise
The lowest eDb is the turn OF the tide.
Anon.
i3i7- 57Tr57 l
A STORY OF LONDON LIFE.
5H S "a pawnbroker in q populous
Ia suburb of London, have had
IN occasion to see painful, and
sometimes not unpleasihg phases OF
society. Just to give-an idea of what
occasionally comes under the notice
Of persons in my profession, y shall
describe little incident and its con-
sequences. One evening stepped to
the doorFor ttlefresh air, and to
look about me for a moment Whilst
/ was gazing up and down the road
| saw tidily-dressed young person
step np toour side door. She walked
like Ia ilady-and let me tell you that
in nine cases out Of ten it's the walk
and not 1be dress, which distinguishes
the lady from the seryant-gin-and
first she looked about, and then she
seemed to make up her mind in q
fiurried sort of way, and in a moment
was standing at our counter, holding
out glittering something in a little
trembling hand covered with worn
kid glove. q
NY assistant, Isaacs, was stepping
forward to take the seal, when came
in and interposed. The poor young
thing was SO nervous and shy, and
altogether so unused to this work,
that / felt for her as if she had been
my own daughter almost. She could
not have been more than eighteen
years old too trail and gentle a crea-
ture. A l.ss
Ifyou please, will you tell me,
she said timidly, in a very sweet, low
voice, trembling with nervousness,
what is the value of this seali"
Well, miss" I said, taking The
seal into my hand and looking at it :
it was an old-fashioned seal, such as
country gentlemen used to wear, with
a coatsofarms cut upon it" that de-
peuds upon whether you want to
pledge it, or sell it outright"
am married. sir" and she said
the words proudly and with dignity,
though still so shy, and seeming ready
to hurst OUT CRYING &" and my ihus-
band is very ill-and-andp
And then the tears wouldn't be kept
back any longer, and then she sobbed
as if her poor little heartWould break.
There, there, my dear ! said to
her don't cry it will all come right
in time !" and | tried to comfort her
as we'll as couldin my; own rough
and.ready way. Il will lend you,
ma'am," said to her at last, "a
sovereign upon this seal and if you
wish to sell it, perhaps ! may be able
TO sell il for you to advantage" And
S, 1 gave her a pound; it was more
than the thing was worth as pledge
and she tripped away with a lighter
heart, and many thanks to me, and l
thought no more Of the matter at the
time il
The very next day, the day before
Christmas, there came into our place
of business a very eccentric gentle
man, who had called upon US pretty
often before. not for the sake Of pawn
ing anything, though he was general
ly dressed shabby enough, too. But
he was collector, one of those men
who are mad upon old china and
curiosi,ies Of all sorts.
Anything in my way to day, Mr..
Davis p he said, in his quick, ener-
getic manner, with a jolly smile upon
bis face, and putting down the cigar
ette he was smoking on the edge OF
the counter.
The Rev. Mr.. Broadman is a eollec-
tor of gems, rings and seals, and, in
fact, any stones that have heads or
figures engraved upon them. And /
had been in the habit of putting
aside for him whatever in this way
passed through our hands for he
gave us a better price than we should
have got for them at the quarterly
sales. The fact is, Davis" he used
to say to me, /" these things are in
valuable many of them are as beau
tiful, on small scale, as the old
Greek sculptures and some of them
even by the same artists. And they
are made no longer, you see, for, IN
this busy nineteenth century of ours,
time ami brains are too precious to
be spent on these laborous triaes
Now, although I had no stones Of the
kind he wanted just then, it entered
into my head that Iwould tell him
about the seal which had come into
my possession the evening before. So
told him the story somewhat as ]
haYe just told it to you. He listened
attentively to all I said. When | had
done he looked at the seal, and said :
(" | observe that it has the heraldic
emblem Of baronet." He then con-
graduated me ON the way in which
had acted. He asked, too, for this
Young Iady's address, which she had
given me quite correct and then he
left the shop without another word.
You must give me leave TO tell the
rest of the story in my own way, al
though it may be very different way
from that which the reverend person.
age employed in relating it to me
afterwards.
It seemed that it was a runaway
match. A country baronet's son had
fallen in love with the clergymen's
daughter, in the village where his
father lived ; and they had run away
together, and got married. Then they
came up to London, these two poor
young things-for neither his father,
nor hers either, for the matter Of
that, would have anything to say to
the match-he full of hopes Of getting
on in the literary and artistic line !;
and she, poor creature, full of trust in
him.