The morning call., 1891-11-15
AUNT JANE IN THE CIT Y
Her Disappointment at the Poly
clinic loan Exhibition.

When l come up to town l come deter
mined to have a good time and see the
| sights. [ went right to my niece Ellen'S
| house. You see she and her folks has been
| spending their summers up to our ranch
| pretty free, and pa he said 'twarn't no more
than right that they should give me my bed
| and board for week or SO when 1 got
| chance to come to the Bay for the first time
| in more than ten years; and Ellen and the
| girls was real polt', though Ellen did seem
a little flustered like, probably AT my coming
! III on EN- so unexpected l told her, though,
| that she didn't need to make mite of fuss
.over me, for I'd take not luck and sleep On
| shake-down anywheres, and SO she Gained
| down some and said she was glad to see me,
and we got quite .sociable before the even
| ing was over, though | saw the girls-they're
| kind of stuck up, those girls-eying Inc kind
| OF critical and dissati, fed like.
There didn't none of 'em seem to be very
| anxious to 60 around with me, but Ellen
| she appointed Clara. the younges t-she's
| only 10, but as pert and sassy and forward
| as they make 'em-to take me about aud the
way that girl yanked me from place to place
| almost took my breath away. We didn't
| go to theaters, of c0urSe-l have been
| brought up different from that-but we went
most everywhere else and she kept me on
| the go so that | was clean tuckered out be-
| fore l had been in the city week, and just
| ached to get home to the ranch and settle
| down in peace and quietneSs again, but just
rs | had got my things packed L saw some
| thing in the paper about the Polytechnic Lean
| Exhibition and made up my mind that sea
| that | must, but when | spoke about it to
| Clara she just buckeG.
| 81 It's so awfully stylish that you wouldn't
| enjoy yourself there one bit, Aunt Jane,
| says she, land it amt much to see anyway"
| But 20 | would, and as | knew my way
around pretty well by that time, slipped
| off the next fOrenOon-it was a FTiday-all
| alone by myself and went
There was a pretty. back-eyed woman
setting at the door, and she took my four
| bits just as pleasant as If I'd been Million
| airess, and told me to 60 straight in and in
| | sailed 1 must say that | was kind OF sur
| prIsed when l saw what barry place they
was having their slrow in; and it did seem
| to me that they might have waited little
longer before they opened up, aud had some
carpentering and whitening done, so it would
have looked little better; but it seemed
that they was in hurry, and so they Just
hung up some old curtains where the doors
was lacking. and covered up the walls with
pieces of carpet. and rugs, and such. 1t
looked dreadful make-shifty to me, but L
suppose they thought it would do for the time
being or they wouldn't have fixed it so. Such
dongs always come of trying to get up
things i'll too much of hurry.
| There was another pretty woman setting
ut little table in the room to the right that
| | went into and she was dressed up to kill,
with three or four diamond rings on her
pretty white fingers, and diamonds stuck in
her ears, and she had ON silk dress pretty
near covered with lace and bonnet that
stuck up as straight behind as our Old
ROSTERS tail.
She had a lot Of little books on the table
in front Of her, and she smiled at me, like a
chessy cat, and asked me il | didn't want TO
buy one. l thought it was kind of small
for n woman who could dress as fine as she
did to be running a newsstand. but still
she seemed to want to sell them so bad that
reflected that you can't always tell per-
sons circums stances by the clothes they
wear, and so l stopped aud looked at 'em.
only twenty-five cents" says she as
sweet as pie, but l laid the one I'd been
looking at back on the table, and gazsd at
her pretty stern, for, if you'll believe ME.
every single one of them books was dam
aged. Somebody had cut 'em open with a
dull jack-knfe, and the edges was that torn
and raggedy looking that they wasn't fiji for
nothing.
Twenty five cents" indeed! l had bis
| notion to give her piece Of my mind RICH
| there, and tell her that she ought to bC
ashamed of herself trying to sell sucl
things, but then | thought it wasn't non,
of my business as long as | wasn't com
PEELED to buy one, but L gave her pretty
, vinegary look, l can tell you.
81 didn't come here intending to reat
none," says l, passing it off carelessly like