Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1892-12-01
TOMS GREAT BARGAIN

O GREAT BARGAIN
at is very nice. very nice, and l am
extremely proud of it, Out
And here little Maggie Dalton hesI-
tated. 1t was very nice, from the neat
little drawing-room, simply but eie-
gantly furnished, right away to the
Kitchen, where everything shone again
And Tom had got everything together
in eighteen months, too, when the
luck had changed and his writing all
at once got to be appreciated. But,
as Maggie put it, there was n trlhing
drawback, consisting of an aIcoVe IN
the drawing-room which o never
no, never look complete without a
piano.
And a piano you shall have" Tom
said. looking up heartily from the
breakfast bacon. 81 Lad a good slice
of luck last week which | never expect
ed. You remember that long love
story | wrote three years ago, and
which | sent to pretty we'll every mag
azine IT. London. Well, Ned Hartley
advised me to send it to the Woman,s
Communion, where it was accepted.
They paid me f25 for it, not quite a
half-a-crown a page but it is better
than nothing. Don't you think l
could get a decent instrument for the
money!"
Maggie smiled pleasantly. She was
extremely fond of music and, being a
managing little soul, equally fond of a
bargain. 1t would be far better, she
| said, sapiently, for Tom to keep his
ewes open than to 90 direct to a maker,
by which he might save at least tlO OF
his ~hard-earned money.
There are lots of them advertised
every day in the Telegraph" she OBJ
served. Give me the paper and will
show YOU what | mean. Now listen to
this one"
FOR SALE-A BARGAIN; MAGNIFICENT
piano, by w~eIl-known maker; upright, grand,
oyerstrnng. double-CheCk action, Stelnway
soft pedal, steel frame, full compass, trichord
throlghout: the property of a lady going
abroad: cost Is pounds but a few months ago;
will sacrifice for p pounds. Apply bee
thoven," 1876 GunnersbuTy road, Grcenthorpe
Park, Hampstead, or personally any day tins
week.
Tom nodded a~pprovingly. An in
strument costing but a few months
ago upward of "three-quarters of a
century" to be disposed of for a third
of the amount struck him as the very
thing he desired. 1t was a little strange
though, an outsider would have
decided, that so valuable a property
should have gone so long begging, Oh
that the lady going abroad did not get
to see the folly of advertising regularly
in the Telegraph at the rate of FL pei
week.
al tell you what it is" said Tom, "as
Gunnersbury road is close, I'll jus
walk over there after dinner and in
terview Mrs. Beethoven personally
II | like the look of the instrument you
can come Over afterwards and try 1t"
So it was arranged, and Tom retired
to his writing den, where for three
solid hours the anticipated purchas'
was forgotten There was plenty u
work now for the young writer ant
journalist, who for the last five year
had found it a terrible struggle to keeI
himself, and find Maggie, who hat
until recently been out as a governess
with those trifling luxuries which eve
the princely salary of a g~overness doe
not afford. But the tide had turne'
now. and although Tom would neve
be a great novelist or brilliant essayist
he earned a comfortable income, whicI
( by the end of the year promised I
! touch close upon tour figures. j
seems a lot of money, but | know NOR
than one of the quiet ones Of whom tn
general public have never heard VIII
are doing quite as well. 1t is so cas-.
: to get a living in literature If you hav
the ability and know how to set abou
it-especially know how to set abou
{ it, which, perhaps, in the long rug
better than ability. But this secret
3 only learnt by much grief and pal
n and bitter disappointment.
- So Tom finished his mornings worl
' aud after dining comfortably, wake
Z over to Gunnersbury road, a pleasan
r semi-genteel street, with neat littI
houses, all bearing a strong famil
n likeness to each other and all strivin
to look as if they were scmi-detache
residences and o the occupants
a common terrace. No. 195 was, pc
S hapS, a little cleaner and neater tina
its neighbors; the door had bee
y painted within recent memory, thel
y <ere extremely white curtains in I'll
= windows, and a neat little mai
$ took Toms card after she had ushere
him into a tiny drawing-room, the fu
niture of which struck him as new an
4 cheap. But tawdry as his SURROUND
: ings were, Tom speedily forgot the
= as the door opened and a lady entere
holding his card in her hand.
81 presume you came to see m
ABOUT the piano" she said.
d Tom was a tolerably self-possesse
man, but he felt at n d~isadyantag
now. The speaker was the preNie;
C he had ever seen in hiS lif
e She was young-not more than twent.
two or three, tall, with an elegant Ii,
ure; she had a wonderful mass of re
J gold hair piled up in some bewilde
4 ing, fascinating fashion; her featlr'
were wonderfully sweet and regula
n and her sorrowful blue eyes, half boil
wholly shy, went straight to Tom
= heart and enslayed him on the spo
1 He was a very sensitive, feeling kind
q a fellow, and when he noted the blac
t dress and tiny white cap perched upc
the golden, wavy hair, Tom felt th'
he could do anything for her, or d
happy in the attempt.
u ut is of no consequence" he stan
c mered, uuconsciously paraphrasin
MI. Toots. 81 did come over to S,
@ the instrument, which | thought
N purchasing if it-that is"
IF it is satisfactory" the lady sal,
. with q smile. and concluding I'll
speech Tom deemed it almost heres
to utter. alt is there as you see. Yo
are, no doubt, a good judge, ana
hat case the piano speaks for itself
:, 1t did, and pretty loudly, too, as al
u connoisseur OF the popular form of ha
monial torture would have readily tie
# titled. 1t was suspiciously new, tt
varnish was bright and obtrusiv
: There was also some little difficulty
' raising the lid, and when Tom di
clumsily run his hand over the key
even he-ignorant of music as he W;
t felt startled at the metallic demo
; he had aroused.
;, at is a great bargain" the lady r
marked, "and, as you see, almost new
Tom did see. and fastened eagerI
e to pay a fitting tribute to its you'll
which apparently was the only Writ
it possessed. And yetthe ~soft-hearte
fellow, with those pathetic blue ey,
turned upon him, could not steel hin
self to pronounce the fiat whish h
e common sense dictated.
IL viii not decide now" he hesitate,
Ie man-like. "You see, | am o buvin
for myself. but for a lady-my sister
and i should like her to see 1t first.
d there is no objection l will call aga
a tomorrow afternoon"
l. "My-my husband chose that instr
ment. and he was a well-known mus