The Progress., 1893-08-26

uose ol MS own medicine. By iu,C
III do IT, and do il i'm way l.c will
remember. too"
Various m2'ters p vented ;srl,rr
from calling at the : NTH hou until
the very day befo, the wcddfuo
People ought to have more consider.
alton than to call at such time.
but Barker was sufficiently intimate
at the Smiths to know that he would
not be in the way. or. il he should
be. that he would bc dismissed po-
litely.
Miss Mamie. though i'm the mids;
of cnthralling preparations. was dc
lighted to see him Come upstairs. "
she said. "and see all my presents.
! haven't pretended to count them.
but there are an astonishing number.
and they arc just lovely. My feel
ings run away with me when | think
OF all those beautiful things"
Barker went aud duly admired the
display, keeping an eye open for
his own. which he not unreasonably
expected To see in the place of honor
1t was nowhere to be found
Hasn't llammett sent mine ycta"
he asked, at length "lIo promised
faithfully 10 have il done in plenty
of time. and he has mover disap-
pointed me yet"
ooh. yes." answered the girl. at
came several days ago, and was Just
magnificent don't know how to
thank you enough for IT, IL was the
very prettiest thing Of tho whole lot
But, - with merry laugh. 80 very
funny thing happened in connection
with it. Yesterday the man who
brought it called again aud asked to
be allowed to take il back TO the
store lie said that il wasn't paid
for yet. and that Mr. Hammett
hadn't intended to let it go out Of his
hands until 1t was paid for II had
been sent up by mistake. the man
said. or course we knew there had
been some mistake but we gave it to
the man. and no doubt it is still
there at llammctts. waiting until
your bill is Settled" with another
laugh of enjoyment at the joke. "We
knew it wouldn't make any differ
encc. and we were sure it would turn
up again before tomorrow
The more Barker thought about it
/ the more his anger increased; and by
the time he reached IIammett's place
he was fairly boiling over with rage.
! Look here. IIammett." he cried.
| as he strobe into the little Office.
"what. the devil do you mean by
sending up TO Smiths for my present
and with such message. too?"
Good afternoon. Mr.. Barker re-
turned the dealer calmly. Has any
thing gone wrongP"
Wrong Barker was ready TO
explode. Didn't you send for that
present of mine and say it wasn't
paid fer yet?'
IL believe | did. Mr.. Barker
Wasn't the fact correctly statedP"
'Confound you. yes; but did you
think was going to cheat you out of
your money!"
"Oh not at ALL" answered the jew
eler. Nothing of the sort. knew
perfectly well that you were perfect
ly good for a hundred times the
amount of your bill any time that
you chose to draw a check for it" lie
opened fat ledger. But do you
happen TO remember our last CONVEX
sation at the time your order was
givenP"
Perfectly What about ftp"
well. sir. you may remember
giving me some advice about how to
treat some of my patrons who were
perfectly able TO pay their bills"
"Yes, that is true" murmured
Barker. who was cooling rapidly.
"But didn't expect you TO try it on
me. and you needn't have taken that
wav of doing it. either. Hammett.
Think what position it puts me in "
don't let that trouble you for q
moment" said the jewelcr quickly.
81 can put that right in ten minutes.
hated TO have TO do such a thing,
but it really seemed the only way to
make you realize the state of affairs.
"If you can make it right, Ham
nett. I'll draw you n check on the
spot" reioined Barker.
Thank you. sir; you shall see, "
said the jeweler He called a mes
senger. and gave him some directions.
you see. sir, tell them IL was al
mistake of my own men, apologize
humbly. and take all the blame upor
nv own shoulders No one could
imagine there was anything behind
all that
"No." said Barker as he wrote out
the check, IL suppose not But
have half a notion to deal with some
other man in future; some one wh'
isn't loaded as dangerously as yoU
seem to be-"
IL hope not. sir" returned Ham
nett, as he put the check away care
fully. "And l think you would no
find anyone who would arrange sucf
m matter more delicately or NOR,