Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-26

1
extra fine, and, therefore, worth having
foull see; the stuff'll go off like hot cakes
"nen you get your bills well distributed"
| II Haul had any doubts about the merits
| OF DR.. Queechy's lotion they ought to have
entirely dissipated when he read the sample
| hand Dill which the doctor displayed. The
wonderful curative properties of the medi-
| cine were set forth in no uncertain light,
| while numerous testimonials from various
distinguished citizens vouched for the bene
IT'S they had received from its use With
all this staring him in the face, Paul would
| have been an migrate to have doubted, so
with a CHEEKY thank YOU he announced
| ms Willingness to accept the place.
An right, then; that's settled" ex-
and your expenses. Let's see-train leaves
| in an hour. Ought to catch that so as to
| get an early start at the fair tomorrow.
STUFF Is at the depot; all we have to do is
| to check 1T through. Come ahead, son."
| On their way to the station Paul pulled
| out his letters and remarked that he would
| Ike to mail them if his employer could
make him small advance on his salary.
The doctor opened his purse and handed
mis- new assistant silver dollar.
would give you more, he said in his terse.
! choppy way, only I'm little short just
| now"
| Paul protested that 10 cents was enough,
but the doctor waved him back and told
| him to say no more about 1t.
IL was great relief to get the letters Off
his mind, for Pauls love for his parents
vas too genuine to allow them to worry
through his neglect. AS he dropped the en-
velopes into the box he felt as If that action
completed his record up to date. What fol-
| lowed would be a new chapter, which he
was only too eager to begin.
On arriving at Sacramento their first care
was TO transfer the bottled goods from the
depot TO the fair grounds. 1t was too late
| 70 90 any work at the booth that night, so
the doctor made arrangements for Paul to
board at cheap hotel near by, promising
to meet him early the day following at the
BOOTH
BY o'clock next morning Paul had eaten
MS breakfast and was off to the grounds.
When his employer appeared on the scene
the bottles were neatly arranged in pyra-
mids around the octagonal counter, while
attractive hangers and fiaring dodgers pro-
claimed the virtues Of the lotion in the most
effective manner.
Better get few small boys to pass
after sisnifying his approval of Paurs work.
spend this dollar on it," he added, tossing
over the coin. but wait until the grounds
MI up before You set 'em to work. You
must stick close to the stand, as l have
other business on hand"
Toward noon Paul managed to hire four
youngsters at quarter EACH who soemnly
promised to scatter the dodgers all over the
fair grounds. Apparently their work was
honest, for later on he sold half dozen bot
ties to as many different people, each of
whom carried a handful. BY o'clock he
had disposed of So worth of eye water, and,
as the crowd was then rapidly thinning out,
he concluded 1t was time for him to quit,
too. So, locking up his bottles, he closed the
booth and went over to his hotel to supper.
Contrary to his expectations, the doctor
failed to meet Paul that evening, but, sup
posing that he would surely receive visit
at the booth in the morning, the lad thought
nothing of the omission and went to bed,
feeling fairly jubilant over his first days
business.
The second day opened bright and pleas
ing. The attendance was larger, and, with
another judicious distribution of dodgers by
his faithful emissaries, sales of eye water
steadily doomed, so that by supper time
Paufs receipts amounted to upward of $50.
Stin the doctor did not appear. much to the
concern of his assistant. who began to fear
some mishap had befallen him.
The day had not passed without bringing
many incidents to PauPs notice. Numerous
were the questions, both funny and serious
that he was required to answer regarding
the efficacy of the eye water, to all of which
the lad replied as truthfully and intelli-
gently as he could.
One old lady who thought the stuff might
possibly help her son Pelegs eyes wanted
TO be certain that the medicine would do all
that the handful stated before she in
vested. Her shrewd questions rather fur
ried the young salesman.
"You say that one bottle will cure the
worst case of sore eyes ever KNOWN" she
exclaimed, quoting from the bill she held
before her spectacles. will you swear TO
that young MANI"
Madam, let me explain answered Paul.
it, because I'm only hired to attend this
stand, and know very little about the lotion.
The doctor is away just now, but he assur-
ed me before he left that the medicine
would do all he claimed for ii. That's all /
can tell YOU"
"Humph! little enough" she grunted.
However, you look honest boy, SO I'll take
bottle. anyway. Pelegs eyes is that bad
he can't read out o. the family Bible. which
Is printed in extry big letters. Spose them
instructions on the bottle tells how to use
1t, Ell? But it's an awful high price to pay.
though, she muttered. as she hobbled off.
They were mostly grangers who bought.
1t seemed to Paul that great many farm
ers were afflicted with ophthalmia in that
region, and he wondered If the lotion would
make their eyes much worse. Whether the
stun were genuine or a rank humbug, he
had no means of telling. He only had the
Doctors word that 1t was all he represented
Ii to be.
The third day was a repetition. with but
slight variation, of the one previous. except
that the sales fell off a trife. The fourth
and last day of the fair found the doctor
still missing, and so far all Pauls inquiries
had been fruitless. In the afternoon. hav-
ing sold every bottle of eye water in the
booth, and with upward of 500 in his pock-
ct, he concluded to take a stroll around
the grounds in search of the absent one
1t was while describing his employer to
one of the fair police that Paul stumbled
on his first bit of information concerning
the doctor.
Doctor Quaichy, dye call him." re-
marked the officer, in strong Hibernian
accent. 'Divvle a docther is he, OF don't
think. Sure Their feller's slick fakir as
liver We seen. Him an another chaps bin
run out o. town for worrkin' lotthery
racket on Their grounds. It's me that's
tellin' yer he won't throuble this part o.
Californyer agin for good bit. Some O.
ther lads he bilked lambasted him awful the
fust day he opened up and then chased him
to the thrain goin east. Sure he must be
nearly to Ne-York be this tonne"
This was startling news, that might or
might not refer to DIR. Queechy. Further
investigation, however, convinced Paul that
the policemans story was, in the MAN,
true, for the additional evidence he gath
cred all pointed to the doctor the exiled
gambler.
What bothered Paul was to know just
why his employer had taken so much trou-
BILE with the stand. He finally concluded
that the gambling had been an after con-
sideration, particularly when he learned
that another man had been implicated with
him.
After lingering two days in Sacramento
to give account of his stewardship, Paul
decided that the doctor either feared to re-
turn or else imagined the sale of eye water
hadn't amounted to enough to bother about.
There was nothing for him to do but to go
back to San Francisco. and with five double
eagles wrapped in a channels bag and WIS.,