The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1898-10-12

ENkFEfN"E ried. He went To
Y Ws-G Sugarman the
ord NES Shadchan rth-
with.
"Thave the very thing for you, ;" said
the great marriage broker.
"Is she pretty?" asked Leibel.
''Her father has a boot and shoe
warehouse" replied Sugarman enthu-
siastically.
"Then there ought to be a dowry
with her" said Leibel eagerly.
Certainly dowryl A fine man
like you!"
'When could l see her2"
II will arrange for you to call next
Sabbath afternoon.
"You wont charge me more than a
sovereign"
mot q groschen more Such pious
maiden! And, of course, five per cent.
on the dowry?"
"H'ml Well, | don't mind"
On the Saturday Liebel went to see
the damsel, aud on the Sunday he went
to see Sugarman the Shadchan.
"But your maiden squints!" he cried
reseutfully.
can excellent thingp said Sugar
man. "a wife who squints can never
look her husband straight in the face
and overwhelm him. Who would quail
before woman with a squint?"
"Why, the girl is hunchbackp he
protested furiously.
my dear Leibel," said the mar
riage broker, deprecatingly Struggling
his shoulders and spreading out his
palms. "You can't expect perfec-
tion!"
Nevertheless, Leibel persisted in
his unreasonable attitude. He ac-
cused Sugarman of wasting his time,
Of making fool of him.
This gave Leibel pause, and he de-
parted without having definitely broken
the negotiations. His whole week was
befogged by doubt, his work became
uncertain, his chalkmarks lacked their
decision, and he did not always cut his
coat according to his cloth. His aber-
rations became so marked that pretty
Rose Green, the sweaters eldest
daughter, who managed q machine in
the game room, OWNED, with all wo-
mans intuition, that he was in love.
"What is the matter?" she said in
rallying Yiddish, when they were
taking their lunch of breai and cheese.
"They are proposing me match"
he answered sullenly.
"a match!' calculated Rose.
'Thou" She had worked by his side
for years, and familiarity-bred the
second person singular.
with whom?" asked Rose.
"With Leah Volcovitchr'
'Leah Volcovitch!" gasped Rose.
"Leah, the boot and shoe manufac-
turer's daughter?"
Leibel hung his head-he scarce
knew why.
"And why dost thou not have her?"
said Rose.
Leibel did not reply.
SIS it that thou likest me better?"
she asked.
Leibel seemed to see ball OF
lightning in the air; it burst, and he
felt the electric current strike right
through his heart. The shock threw
his head up with a jerk so that his
oyes gazed into face whose beauty
and tenderness were revealed to him
for the first time. The face of
his old acquaintance had vanished
this was cajoling, coquettish, smil-
ing face, suggesting undreamed-of
things.
"Nu, yes" he replied, without per-
ceptible pause.
''Nu, good" she rejoined as
quickly.
And in the ecstasy Of that moment
OF mutual understanding Leibel forgot
to wonder why he had never thought
of Rose before. Afterward he remem-
bered that she had always been his So
cial superior.
Before he left that night Rose said
to him: cart thou sure thou wouldst
not rather have Leah VolcovitchP"
''Not for all the boots and shoes in
the world" replied Liebel yehe-
mently.
The landing outside the workshop
was SO badly lighted that their lips
came together in the darkness.
"Nay, nay, thou must not yet"
said Rose. "Thou art still courting
Leah Volcovitch. For aught thou
knowest, Sugarman the Shadchan
may have entangled thee beyond re-
demption."
Leibel found Sugarman at supper.
"You don't mean to say that you
give up boot and shoe manufacturer
merely because his daughter has
round shouldersl" he exclaimed in
credulously.
'It is more than round shoulders
it is hump" cried Leibel.
"Then shall have to look out for
another, that's all"
mo, 1 don't want any," replied
Leibel, quickly.