The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1900-01-02
A BUSINESS
PROPOSITION
And How 1t Was Received by Miss
Mehetabel Bascom.
BY HUBERT CARR,

8 BY HUBERT CARR. 9
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Man and boy, for 81 years, Abijah Jop.
ling had been clerk In the First Nation
al bank Of Squawtunket and never once
in all that time could th1e have been
found one single. solitary error in any Of
his books. His balance sheets were mar
vels of unspotted correctness. He could
run down three columns of figures at the
same time and at express speed and add
them with absolute precision. He could
locate the transpositions and errors Of
the other employees In no time at all,
while the most intricate problems Of COM
pound discount or interest were to him as
IL they were not And In all his ways he
was as precise and methodical as chro-
nometer and as prim and neat as a new
silver dollar.
In fact, he made too good clerk ever
to have become anything BETTER and.
having neither friends nor sufficient mon
ey to boost him up the financial ladder,
he had rested through the golden time Of
life on the lowest round. He had entered
the bank at IA MS petty clerk and at AZ
udu utkhlutu VhiJ Nuc ucuu UOOnACCPChN
ship. Nevertheless he had by economy
and shrewd turn or two. thanks either
to his discernment or good fortune, accu-
mulated few thousand dollars, which
he had invested iu the Squawtunket and
Squawoag Railroad company. very tidy
little property.
He was tall. Iank man. with
smooth lip and jowL the complexion of
weather beaten wood and small, narrow
eyes Of faded hazel. He invariably wore
straight, high crowned stovepipe hat
with very narrow brim, seedy black
broadcloth suit made with long frOck
coat. a low piccadilly collar and black
shoestring tie. He was always scrupu-
lousy brushed and buttoned, and when
he walked he carried himself very erect
and progressed deliberately, like a man
who thinks well Of himself. Alto
gether, although not statuesque, he was
imposing, and because Of his peculiar
mental, moral and physical endowments
his skittish young fellow employees and
other frivolous persons nicknamed him
"Old Plumb Bob and T Square," but
this, never having heard. he did not heed.
His recreation was very simple, but to
him never m0notonous. His entire leisure
time was occupied in perusing The FL
nancial Review and like publications.
which to the tyro might seem somewhat
arid, but whose stock lists and other in
formation afforded Mr.. Jopling the ut
most intellectual satisfaction and stimu-
lated his arithmetical Imagination to
blissful il somewhat elephantine sport
iveness with solid facts and ponderous
figures.
Now, on day, Miss Mehetabe Bas-
com, extracting from rather lean old
black stocking which had been darned
with white thread $8,543.06 in bills and
coin, deposited the amount In the First
National bank Of Squawtunket. The
new account Of course came under the
notice of Abijah Jopling, and from that
day he marked her where she went.
Looking out through the white sashed
windows Of the bank, discreetly yelled
by dingy green wire screens wherein
were displayed the title Of that temple
of finance in furnished gilt letters shaded
with rusty black, Mr.. Jopling had an I'M
INSTRUCTED view of Miss Mehetabe Bas-
CONS shop on the other side Of the street.
This embryo emporium was really moth
ing but a one story addition which had
been built out on to the front Of Miss
Bascom's house. She had originally
started her shopkeeping in the dwelling
itself, but as she prospered she found
need of an enlarged establishment; hence
the addition. In the side windows of the
little store one might see in remarkably
meth0dical arrangement candy, tops,
jackstones, dolls, marbles, kites and 9TH
er necessities Of childhood, besides some
books and periodicals., slender stock of
muslins, calicoes, chintzes and other
cheap fabrics, as well as an interesting
assortment Of that miscellany known to
the trade as motions"
Miss Mehetabcl had lived and conduct
ed her business here for more years than
it would be polite to say and had made
glowing IL not a brilliant success of her
humble little venture into commerce. She
was tall, spare and rawboned, with steel
trimmed spectacles and thinnisll. dark hair
in which were many silvery strands. Her
eyes were gray and piercing, her mouth
very firm and compressed, with an ex-
preston that never varied except when
the thin lips parted for some laconic ut.
terance. for she was a woman Of few
words, and those Of the shortest. At ex-
actly $3.50 o'clock every morning. sum
mer or winter, light wisp of blush gray
smoke would curl upward from the
square brick chimney of the dwelling. At |
exactly G:15 Miss Mehetabel would open
the door of the shop and, nttired in
dark brown dress, rather short about the
ankles. but very plain, very neat and
very businesslilSe, would sally forth to
take down the green shutters Of her shop
windows, while her llttle maid of all
work swept the shop mud the sidewalk
before it. You could have set your watch
by her either in the ,uorning or when, to
the flick Of a fy's wing, she shut up shop
at precisely 0 p. III She was just as
methodical and exad about all her other
affairs. She gave nc credit il she could
possibly avoid II and then for not above
week. She would net accept Canadian
dimes, plugged nickel" or postage stamps,
and she paid cash fnf VII she bought and
exacted the best discount for the same
wherever possible. So doing, she had
prospercd and now had her handsome lit
tie account with the Fist National bank
of Squawtunkct, just across the way.
Pondering upon these facts md figures
in the qualities and fortunes of Miss Me-
hetabel Bascom and his own. Abijah Jop-
ling, with that acute penetration with
which heaven had blessed him, saw op-
portunity flirting with him out Of the tail
Of her eye, and, knowing that opportuni-
ty, like woman. may make eyes at q man,
vet not seek him, he determined to seize
the auspcious moment and to deal with
her.
miss Mehetabel," he said to himself,
H.. l,, I will Vyaata |