The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1893-04-10
A FORTUNATE ERROR.
Tho Happy Sequel That Grow Out
OF Q Little MISTAKE.

capt. SprOwl threw his hat on the
bed and sat down III his easy chair In
the cabin to light his pipc Up curled
the smoke, and through II the captain
looked rucfully at tho neat package
that lay on the table.
What fool was to buy that, he
Thought sold scxtant wns plenty
good enough, though I've had II nine
years Bought IL in Liverpool when /
was second mate In the Julia A. Smith.
And now Two put out n months earn
ings for now one. What possessed mo
| don't know
And SO the captain went on.
Now Capt Sprowl was not, as you
might think from the name, bald
headed old man with bushy whislsers.
No, names are very misleading In
stead; he was tall and slender, with q
sandy lnustache, and had not gray
hair In his head.
He came from Maine. and, although
but thirty years old. no had been for
six years captain Of tho bark Edna
Dunn, which was now lying at Consti-
tuition wharf In Boston, dischnrging
her cargo Of sugar.
well, )" pulled tho captain, nothing
TO do now but 10 get rid Of tho old sex
tant. Ishould 90 ashore next trip II
had two sextants to navigate by. Must
work the old one of on some landlnb-
Der or somebody"
The package was lying on an old
newspapers Globc--which he had
read through and through on his last
tripout.
",The very thingr' said he. "I'll put
notice in the papers 'Sextant for sale
cheap, and II somebody doesn't bite At
1t miss my guess.
The next morning the only thing tho
captain could sec in the paper was this:
CExTANr for sale BY q ship captain nearly
y new and IN perfect ORDER VIII be sold cheap
And now my story's begun.
Eta Bourne had been at work In a
millinery store in Boston for nearly
two years. She and her older sister
Annie had learned the trade with tho
village millincr down Ii KcnncbunIs.
But Annie, who had long been tho
belle Of the village, got married and
Eta concluded to try her fortune in
IN Boston.
She was full Of ambition.
SO It fell that, in her two years In the
millinery store, she studied shorthand
and typewriting, with the intention OF
fitting herself to be d confidential clerk.
One Sunday she saw in the Globe this
advertisement:
EyoR SALE--Jones' Premier typewriter al half
Z price: becn used less than month; in per.
feet order. Address ~, Globe once.
Eta Bourne, being Maine Yankee,
knew bargain when she saw II. She
wanted to own her own typewriter, and
so she wrote brief note addressed to
20 Al, Globe Office asking where tho
machine could be seen, and dropped IL
into the letter box as she went to work
Monday morning.
The clerk was sorting the replies and
putting them IN their appropriate
boxes. When he came to Eta Bourne's
letter to 20 ~" he read 1t 30 A. and
put 1t in the pigeon hole as such.
That was a very, very little mistake,
Of course; but you who have noticed
how things go In this world Of ours
have discovered that the most serious
changes Ia the course Of our lives.come
tabout from just such little happenings
For II was that very day that Capt.
Sprowl advertised his sextant for salcs
And Capt Sprowl was 20 A."
Now, the tall captain was a very
busy man, and it was late that after
noon before he went to the office to
gather In the replies from people who
were anxious to buy d sextant But
the sextant market was apparently
rather dull, for all the clerk could give
him was one solitary letter The cap
tain tore the envelope open and tossed
it upon the table.
Il saw your advertisement in the
Globe, read the captain II wish to buy
q good secondhand machine Of standard
make and II the one you offer Is In.
perfect repair and the price Is satisfac-
tory, perhaps we can trade. But can
not give more than fifty dollars; ard II
You ask more you need not reply to-
this. Send address, stating where ma
chine can be seen, to II =. Bourne, $50
Winter street.
"WcIl," soliloquized the captain.
"I'ye got one answer, anyhow. But
what does woman want Of sextant
for this Is certainly q woman's writ
ingl she seems 10 be In earnest
though. And City dollarsi Conscienccl
I never expected 70 get more than
twenty-five dollars. Well. she'll have
to como on board, suppose, SO Ill
send her my address. And standing at
the public desk he wrote: