Middletown transcript., 1901-10-26
..0,, arrange to be at

they shall feel better sa'isnou
If there are several men about espe'iAny
in the evening, when the people might
get up a disturbance of some Nilu' anu
make it unpleasant. .or
sT can't get off tomorrow afternoon
sis till almost daak, as I'm tremeno-
ously busy this week; however, IN oe
there as soon as I possibly can, to lena
the weight Of my presence toward Keep
;no tbe neace But what on earth's the
Rummage Sale ?"
s:You are the most absent-mlnded
mortal, Tom; I've been talking to mother
of the Rummage Sale for week past.
Surely you must know something ABOUT
itr'
'TUpon my soul 1 don't, Celia; though
now you speak of it, do recollect thlnK-
ing that you talked even more than usual
of late. But I've been too exercised over
the strike down at the mill to take in
anything on any other subject"
"Well at any rate, Tom, listen now,
and try to grasp the facts, if you can
possibly concentrate your thoughts on
something outside your work, Tor two
minutes consecutively. The Rummage
Sale is to be sale of secondhand goods,
mostly clothing, and is to be held to-
morrow afternoon and evening at South
Hall, for the benefit of the Chlldrens'
Day Nursery. All the ladies Of the church
are interested in it; but the young girls
have it in special charge, and are work
ing hard to carry it through with success.
It's strange you haven't heard of it; it's
been advertised in the Barcliffe paper for
the past four days, SO that it might be
thoroughly well known"
"You don't surely mean to tell me you
intend to sell, and expect other people
to buy, secondhand clothing? I'll be
switched if buy anybody's cast off, dirty
duds p'
"Tom, you're a goose. Of course, we
don't buy the things, we merely sell
them, and the poor people, the very
poorest people, buy them for next door
to nothing, and are mighty glad Of the
bargains they sometimes get"
''Oh, well, that's all right, then, and
I'll be on hand about five-thirty; guess
there won't be any fare.ups before then.
But it's certainly the oldest way to make
a little money-to sell old, played-out
goods. I pity the people who fall heir to
them"
"Some people like secondhand articles
as well as new, Tom; 1 don't see that it's
so dreadful"
"Well, thank Heaven, Pm not one Of
them! But must be off, it's most eight
o'clock; goodbye"
Goodbye; Pm much obliged to you,
Tom, for promising to help us out"
The above conversation took place at
the breakfast table, and the speakers
were Tom and Celia Nevin, who be-
longed to one of the best families in the
quaint old town of Barcliffe. Tom had
become engaged to Polly Fenimore some
eighteen months before he is introduced
here; but for some cause, which nobody
but the two parties interested understood
it was doubtful even if they did-the
engagement had been broken, and while
Polly seemed not at all affected in spirits
by the rupture, and fiirted and danced
with her admirers as gayly as ever, yet
her health had failed somewhat, and her
beautiful bright color only came spas
medically now, when she was under
high excitement. Tom, meanwhile, had
thrown himself body and soul into his
work, and only those who knew him
best, knew that he was inwardly changed
man; yet he made no complaint, tried
hard to be his old merry self, and worked
like slave.
His sister Celia, in true woman fashion,
did all in her power to bring the two
former lovers together again, but without
success; then, sister like, she ended by
siding absolutely with Tom, though know
ing nothing whatever of the facts of the
case, and saw no good at all in Polly.
Changing her tactics, she decided that
Miss Lillian Provence youHg and ,ex-
tremely charming girl, whose parents had
bought "The Homestead" upon the hill
the previous summer-was just the woman
for Tom; SO she made many plans for
drawing them together. So far, however,
Tom had always slipped warily through
themeshes of Celia's very palpable nets;
but his promise to be present at the Rum
mage Sale put her in-high glee, for Miss
Provence was one of the chief movers in
the affair, while Polly was away visiting
in Boston and was not expected home for
some time.