The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1899-06-01
A STORE
ROMANCE,

William French prided himself on the
fact that he was not an ambitious man.
He was won't to say that envy and
discomfort are the twin roots of all evil
and that to be satisfied with ones lot
in life is the sum total Of all earthly
philosophy.
William did not put it that way ex
actly, for he hadn't much more educa-
ton than he had ambition. But that
was what he meant when he would &C.
casionally announce to his fellow clerks
over the bowl of mush and milk that
formed his MONDAY meal at the "quick
lunch counter, "What I can get is
good enough for me- and don't you for
get it. -
And his fellow clerks, mostly unam-
bilious men like himself, would general
ly reply, with laconic vagueness of as
sent, ''That's what
Williams lot in life was sufficiently
humble
He sold tin bathtubs in the poorly
lighted basement of big department
store six days in the week. His Sundays
he spent in riding a secondhand bicy-
Gle, If it was fine, and reading the pic
torial papers or sewing refractory but
tons and reluctant patches on his cloth
ing when the weather precluded any
idea Of outdoor amusement.
For William was bachelor and
looked askance at the fair sex as the
lovely promoters Of much of the dis
content he SO sternly deprecated and the
gentle meters of the reckless and wick
ed extravaganza whose existence in the
world he so greatly deplored.
So when he caught the fiutter of
skirt on any stray bicycle he CHANGED to
pass on lonely road he would scorch
sternly ahead and never once glance
around to see if the fair traveller was
riding for fun or to reduce her waist
measure.
From which it may be seen that Mr..
French was very much of a philosopher.
But, alas, even philosophers are not
exempt from the visitings of the tender
passion, and it CHANGED one day that
Cupid, for want of something better to
do, chose to visit the basement of that
particular store and plant his dart deep
in the heart of the young man who sold
tin bathtubsl
1t happened this way:
A young woman came to fill vacan-
cy in the graniteware department, next
to Williams own, and he, 50 long in
different and even callous to the charms
of woman, no sooner saw the new clerk
busy over her saucepans and teakettles
than he was smitten with a desire to
possess her for his own.
Miss Thompson was not beautiful, to
be sure, nor was she at all imposing of
appearance, that she should thus capti-
vate the heart of this severe critic at
first sight. And she trotted about with
a brisk alertness Of movement quite in.
compatible with grace and elegance of
movement.
But she suited William right down
to the ground.
To begin with, she had soft eyes, of
no particular color perhaps, but some
how when their gaze rested on William
he felt that here, at last, was one who
could appreciate his true value almost
as keenly as he did himself. Her brown
hair, of very ordinary shade, was
parted very neatly over her smooth
brow in fashion extremely plain and
unambitious compared with the impos-
ing pompadours worn by the magnificent
young ladies who sold ribbons and neck
ties at the counters up stairs and whose
airs and graces made William so un-
comfortable that he frequently went to
q rival establishment to purchase the
modest "made up cravat which COM
pleted his humble toilet.
Moreover, Miss Thompson's simple
black alpaca gown. with it's trinity belt
ed waist and spotless cuffs and collar,
betrayed none of the wickedly extrava-
CANT ideas William had long considered
the prevalent weakness Of the sex.
It wasn't very long before the two
young people became very friendly. !.
Stewpans and teakettles being more
in demand than bathtubs, William
was frequently called upon to assist
Miss Thompson in her department, and
this association with her afforded the
young man moments of exquisite joy
At other times he would watch her,
busy over her cooking utensils, and
imagine how she would look in little
kitchen of her own manipulating sim
liar implements in the preparation Of
his own supper.
The thought was Intoxicating Here
at last he had found girl who would
be willing to share his humble lot, he
told himself A plain little thing like
her would probably regard tiny three
room fat such as he had in mind as a
very palace of luxury. He himself
would seem to her a sort of special
Providence through whose benevolent
Intervention she would realize all those
dreams of home and husband most girls
indulge in.
This thought he found even more
agreeable than the other, and he found
himself assuming protecting and even
ratronizing air with her at times.
The enamored young man went SO