The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-05-23
A STORE
ROMANCE


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-
tion than he had ambition. But that
was what ne meant when he would &C.
casionally to his fellow clerks
over the bowl of mnsh and milk that
formed his MONDAY meal at the ''quick
lunch" counter, "What l 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"
William lot in life was sufficiently
humble.
He sold tin bathtubs in the poorly
lighted basement of a 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 a 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 hutter of a
skirt on any stray bicycle he CHANGED to
pass on a 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 0f that
particular store and plant his dart deep
in the heart of the young man who sold
tin bathtubsl
1t happened this way:
IA O0A6 IA IL " LII q FdSdA-
cy in the graniteware department, next
to Williams own, and he, 80 long in
different and even callous to the charms
of woman, no sooner saw the new clerk
busy over her s%aucepans and teakettles
than he was smitten with a desire to
possess her for his own.
Miss Thompson was not beautiful, to
ho uro ~ "oc che 81 oil 1r,-Ocfacr -
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 a very ordinary shade, was
parted very neatly over her smooth
brow in a fashion extremely plain and
unambitious compared with the impos-
ing pompadours worn by the magnificent
young laGics who sold ribbons and neck
ties at the counters up stairs and whose
airs and graces made William so I'M
comfortable that he frequently went to
a rival establishment to purchase the
modest ''ma6e up" cravat which COM
pleted his humble toilet.
Moreover, Miss Thompson's simple
black alpaca gown, with its 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.
1t 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 a little
kitchen of her own manipulating sim
liar implements in the preparation of
his W supper.
The thought was intoxicating. Here
at last he had found a girl who would
be willing to share his humble lot, he
told himself. A plain little thing like
her would probably regard a 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 ever more
agreeable than the other, and he found
himself assuming a protecting and even
patronizing air with her at times.
The enamored young man went so
rar as to nlnt to the objecu of his affec-
ticn his hopes of having a modest home
of his own one day, and while he could
not recall afterward that she had be-
trayed any great interest in his plans
he took comfort in thinking that girls
are shy about showing their feelings
and that probably it had not occurred
to her that he would notice a little clerk
in the graniteware department.
So William dreamed his dreams, and
even began to inquire around about the
rent of flats such as he would be apt to
require.
But he did not tell his love. There
was no hurry about that. He would
wait till spring-when rents were
cheaper.
And, besides, she was probably not
prepared to hear of the honor he pro-
posed to pay her. She might faint or
something. Girls were apt to do those
things when you took them unawares,
he had heard.
So the winter wore on, and William
| spent more and more of his time talk
ing to his fair neighbor, and fell more
deeply in love at every interview.
To be sure, he did most of the talk
ing.
He often confided to her his views o
extravaganza and high living and took
occasion to ridicule those who spent
their money on good clothes and theater
tickets instead of laying it up for a
rainy day.
And while Miss Thompson never said
anything he could construe into an adj
mission that she thought he was right
she always listened with grave atten-
ton, and with her soft eyes fixed on
him he remained blissfully certain that
here was a woman who would thank
fully devote her life to helping him
save his income and provide for his old
: aGs.