The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1895-07-17
BRADSHAW'S RUSE.
BY ALICE IVES.

The mother of his charmer approved
of him aud had promised n friendly
alliance, but the chnrmer herself re-
manned neutral, which, you must adj
init, looked doubtful for the alliance,
and especially for Bradshaw.
He was well-menning, well-con-
Quoted, industrious young man, who
by strict attention to business had be-
come the confidential clerk of Mr..
Joseph w, Burphy, wholesale dealer
in tea, coffee, spices, etc, liberal
discount to the trade, etc.
"But / tell you / don't care for
him." Miss Vera White spoke decid-
edly and looked straight into her
mothers eyes.
"He's young man of such nice,
steady habits" demonstrated the
mother"
$50 nm l." retorted the daughter.
"Seems to me it's thing to be in
earnest about. should say he ought
to be-"
"But my dear. you let him come
here"
"It's you who let him"
"But you talk with him and go out
with him. don't think you dislike
Mr.. Bradshaw.
"No, l don't"
"Nou'll throw over man who'll
make you good husband and take up
with some dashing, snowy spendthrift
yet"
"But, my dearest mother, the
spendthrift hasn't even appeared to
ask to be taken up. SO what's the use
of borrowing trouble? don't want
to get married anyway. should have
to fall in love first, you know. And,
as I've got all that to go through with
there's plenty of time"
"But, you know, dear, since the
reduction in the rates of interest our
income has grown so small l can
scarcely make both ends meet. You
need more than when you were little,
and-and don't know what to do. /
hate to put a mortgage on the house. I"
"Oh you mustn't do that! l will
get some work to do.
1t was true there was very little to
live upon. Mrs, White had been Il
widow for ten years. Vera was her
only child, and at 10 was as unsophis-
ticated in the ways of the world as
many girls are at II.
1t was settled she should learn type
writing. After she had mastered it
the next thing was to find something
to do. Here Mr.. Bradshaw came to
the rescue and got her n place in Mr..
Burphy's private Office. OF course
he didn't want them to lose the home
he had had his eye on it for some time.
His desk was in Mr.. Burphy's Office
and it was an admirable arrangement.
"You know" he said to the widow,
"they call Mr.. Burphy II crank. To be
sure he is an old bachelor and has
stuck SO closely to business all his
life that it has made him little gruff
and peculiar. But if any one could
be with him as l have been and could
see the real tenderness underneath,
the good he does in quiet way, and
the strict, fine integrity of the man,
they'd know, as / do, that he's one in
ten thousand. Oh, I'll look after Miss
Vera; she'll be all right, assure you.
So Vera went to work. The next
day after she began she made some
mistake in a dictation, and Mr..
Burphy spoke sharply to her. The
tears rushed to her eyes, but she
choked them back and said quietly
~ shall try faithfully to do what
you wish. If l make too many mis-
takes and don't suit, you have only to
send me away"
There was something in the indie,
pendence of the answer that caused
him to think twice about her. He
studied her furtively and found the
study interesting. She attended
strictly to business ana he saw tha
she was intelligent and reliable.
After time Mr.. Bradshaw mad,
an unpleasant discovery. He believed
Miss Vera was in love with her ON
ployer. The signs were to him un