Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-08-15
SHE GAVE IT UP.

The young woman S face was agloW
with excitement and joyful anticipation
as she came in and sat down beside the
desk of the veteran travelling man.
ooh, Mr.. Brown" she exclaimed, sat
last I'm to be given my way, and Pm just
too delighted for anything! I've argued
all along that there was no reason why l
couldn't sell goods on the road just as
well as if l were a man, and the firm has
consented to let me try it If you will lay
out a trip for mo and give me all the nee
essary pointers in regard 70 the people"
The veteran travelling nan laid aside
his cigar as a mark of special courtesy and
then got out q bundle of time tables and
order books.
you're sure you want to try it2' he
said.
ooh, positive" she replied. 1.-The old
fashioned notions about womans sphere
are all exploded now, you know, and
there's no reason why l shouldn't be as
successful as Il man."
The veteran travelling man said, al
right" Then he winked one eye at an
other veteran travelling man who was sit
ting at the next desk, and after that he
made out the plan of a nice little trip.
"a short one you know" he explained.
"You won't want a long one at first, be-
cause it's apt to be pretty wearing
Il suppose so" she replied doubtfully,
"but I'm pretty strong and can stand a
good deal Of fatigue"
"Well, I'll try to fix it SO that you'll get
it," he told her, and he winked at the
other veteran again. Then he spread out
the map and ran a pencil mark through
the various cities she was supposed to take
in. 1.-The first one, ( he said, ''is dead
easy. You get there early in the afternoon,
and the only man you have to see is old
Tompkins. He's a mark. He'll start in
by telling You he doesn't want a thing i'll
your line, but If you GO at him right you
can fix him with about three gin fixes so
that you can sell him most anything you
want to-"
"Three what?'
"Gin fixes. The old man thinks there's
nothing like n gin tizz, and if you humor
him and tell him that they probably make
a finer gin tizz in the little place next to
his store than is made in all Chicago he'll
warm up to you and you can sell"
"But, don't you see, can't very well'-
"That's so. You can't, can you?" broke
in the veteran. 81 never thought of that.
Well, then, l can't give you any pointers
on Tompkins. You'll have to do the best
you can on your own hook. But you
needn't waste much time, even if you
don't sell to him. You Can get away in
the oaboose of a freight train a little after
{ II o'clock that night and be in the next
town you want to make at 8 in the morn
ing"
''Three in the morning." she exclaimed.
*Why, p
ooh, of course it's not much fun" in
%terrupted the veteran, but it saves you
over half a day, and you'll find half days
count on the road. However, you won't
have the gin fizz question to bother you.
Bob Billings, the only merchant there
who does much in our line, is a teetotaler.
But you'll have to load him up with ci-
CARS. He thinks that's what travelling
men are for, and he's a regular tiend on
the subject of neutrality-suspicious. trying a
new brand of tobacco or a new cigar of
some sort. He'll probably have something
there that is strong enough to knock down
a horse that he'll want you to try. I've
had to give him more good cigars and
smoke more cheap ones in order to sell
him a-but, wait a minute. Perhaps Pm
getting "a little too fast again. Still that's
the only way I know of selling him any
thing, and maybe you'll have to get on to
the next town without having q chance to
even get out your samples
GLOW can ! get to the next town. she
asked in a tone that indicated she was
getting somewhat discouraged.
"Drive over. 1t will only take about an
hour to finish up your business when you
get there, and l guess that's a good thing,
too, for the man you have to sell to there
has u wife who has a jealous disposition
and a fiery temper that are something aw-
full. Every little while she smashes an
umbrella or something Of that sort over
the head Of some woman whom she thinks
has been trying to flirt with her hus-
band"
"Couldn't l skip that town?'
"Impossible. He's been doing business
with us for eight years, and the firm never
would get over it if we lost his trade.
However, you can get right out of town
as soon as you have sold to him, and tell
you the next stop is u hummer. We sell
to three firms there, and the head of the
biggest one is a poker tiend from the tor
of the creek. If you want to do business
with him, you'll have to sit in with his
little party at the hotel, and if the game
breaks up before z a. III. it will be the first
time on record, and if they don't beat
you out of everything you've got, includ
ing your sample case, it'll be because yor
can play poker better than they can ant
are on to all the tricks. Why, what il
! thunder has become of that woman"
Then the veteran again winked at the
other veteran, and a little later the senior
partner drifted back that way and re
marked casually:
"A woman never does know her owl
mind, does she? That little Miss Swee
: has been trying for two years to get me tt
let her go out with a sample case, just t.
show the absurdity of sex distinctions even
in that branch of the business, and nov
> that ! have decided to give her a chance
she suddenly turns round and declare
i that she will resign before she will do sucl
{ an unwomanly thing. Oh, these womeI
! are all puzzles-the very worst kind o
puzzles!'
"That's what they are assented th
d veteran travelling a
Then he winked several times In rapi'
4 succession at the other veteran. -Ex
change.