Middletown transcript., 1901-10-26
RI GERTRUDE oHIE GdSK1LL

"Girls, here's low-necked evenin,
waist of Bess Dayton's, the one she wor
to Sarah's wedding, and looked so wei
in. As l hold it out, SO, can't your fanc,
picture her gliding around in waltz Will
Jim Patmos p
"Della, that's shame; do he quiet
child; those two women coming in vii
overhear you. /"
1t was Lillian Provence who thu
chided; but her voice was full of sup
pressed mirth, and the merry laugh tha
went around the room at poor Bess's ex
pense, had nothing unkind in it, nor hat
it hardly subsidized before one of the two
woman stepped forward and picked NJ
the identical waist which had caused the
fun, saying to the young girl behind the
table: eff l kin hev it for a quarter
ma am, I'd like to buy it."
"What do you want to buy it for
Mandy? 1t won't fit you for nothin' p
asked her companion.
~ know it won't; but Eve got three
nieces, and if it don't fit one, it'll fiji
another, and the one that gifts it, II most
like give me fifty cents for it,
So the waist was disposed of for twenty,
five cents, to be resold afterward, no
doubt, at an advanced price
Later in the morning Celia came across
a box of goods sent by Mrs. jerks; among
the contents were two blackened plated
silver goblets, an old-time plated cake
basket, an infants milk sterilizer, and a
plain -bone-handle razor. Holding this
last article aloft,, she cried: 'Pm not up
on the price, nor the merits of razors,
friends; anybody else know what this is
WORTH"
'It's evidently one of Mr.. Jenk's old
ones" someone replied. "Of course it's
no good, or Mrs. jerks wouldn't have
sent it. Mark it down for five cents,
Celia"
at might answer for a potato-knife, y
suggested another girl. At which there
was shout from everybody.
By noon the contributions were some
what classified, and things were begin
ming to look a little ship-shape. A
pleasant-faced working man, attracted by
the open door of the Hall and by the
sound of merriment within, poked his
nose inside the room where the ladies
were still occupied with their arrange
ments. To an affirmative reply to bis
polite "Any admittance, ladiesT he
strobe toward one Of the tables, and
there, almost instantly, he spied among a
lot of kitchen utensils, the razor He
picked it up, examined it critically for an
instant, paid five cents for it, and left the
Hall Immediately. His visit was fol-
lowed shortly by quite squad of men,
seemingly street laborers, who each and
all demanded razors at five cents apiece.
When they found no more were to be
bought at any price, they turned ON their
heel in high dudgeon, and left in body
as they had come.
The girls had no further interruptions
to their work until toward evening when
they were preparing to leave the Hall.
Suddenly Mrs. jerks appeared on the
scene.
'Did any OF you young ladies see q
bone-handle razor among my box of con.
tributions?' she said. "Mr. jerks went
to his room after lunch to shave, and
couldn't find his pet razor anywhere; the
household has been in turmoil all after
noon hunting it. At last I remembered
had sent off to this sale very indif-
ferent-looking razor, which I supposed
was OF no account whatever; SO I've come
to get it, that it may be in place when
my husband returns this evening"
As she finished speaking an unsym-
pathetic burst of laughter greeted her
ears, and the girls told her she must
make her peace with her husband as best
she could, for the bone handle razor had
been for hours in the possession of another
appreciatiye owner.