The Jennings daily record., 1902-12-05
I A..Hustler's"
Ambition
By J. MERvIN HULL.

/
= had been a memorable DAY In River
dale. Everybody had said, as usual,
that the graduating exercises were
the best that the academy had ever
1 known. and at the reunion in the
4 evening Hamlin han was crowded
| with students. old and new.
But it was all over now. and the last
and az All Alice Raymond. % They were some.
what older than the rest Of the class. and
1t was we'll known that they were en-
gagged. Alice had been the music teacher
her course. and Riverdale was more than
proud Of her musical ability. John had
assisted in teaching some of the younger
classes.
The grace and beauty Of youth rested
upon them as oy they sto4d side oy ntte, s,ae;
PER AsPERA AB AsTRA.
"Plenty Of 'aspera' mead of u.s.. said
John. but / guess xe can go per- them
"Oh. but we mast remember all the time
there are plenty OF 'astra too. salo AL
mo" said John, looking straight down
into her star-like eyes. .'only two 'astra'
in all the world for me-"
Alice tried to look very grave. but only
succeeded in blushing prettily as she said.
1T doesn't do bit Of good to preach to
you, John; on you always make some SORT OK
Then they ran down the stairs and out
into the bright moonlight of the cool May
was an undercurrent of anxiety In tpSir
thought of the future.
The next morning John went to the sta
tion with Alice. and she took the early
train for Boston. where she was to study
music and as soon as possible to teach
It. When the tra1n had gene ne. John n.vsra5 went
store in the village. hung up his coat. put
on 2 linen duster, and began to sweep
There were some who were much aston
ished at Johns action in going into the
store as q clerk.
~ hadn't no idee that John was goin
village .'uncie." 'when l heerd him rat
tie off that Latin piece to the graduatin. n
to be a perfessor or minister. or sunthin.
OF course, not havin' no own folks. as you
might say. he may be short ont for mon
store re- to 10 arm a little to help him out"
But 1t soon appeared that John was IN
the store to stay. and 1t also appeared
there. Order succeeded chaos. With the
reluctant consent of Mr.. Rice. John ar.
ranged sort Of ''rummage" sale. and
marked old goods at such low prices that
the accumulations of twenty-five years
were cleared away, and the store looked
as II it had just been stocked with new
II tell ye what" said Uncle Josiah.
"Jchns a hustler. no mistake. Trades
just about doubled since he went there
had to hire new hand already. The
way John handles all sorts of customers
is a caution. Why. here the other day ne
ain't bought a new dress this ten, year.
with all her money" And the old man
chuckled with silent laughter.
II happened into the store the other
day." he continued. "when Oliver Rush,
that Boston drummer. come in. He hash
his sale and cleared off all the old goods.
Rush he looked all around the store afor%
he said a word.
"'oh.' says Enoch, my clerk here has
been hayin kind of an auction ,;:t, sale OF
Rush turned quicker'n lightnin' and
looked John all over. head to foot; but
John he never turned hair. Jest KEEP.
the factory girls. ! tell ye. sir, l see nov
what Johns game is. He's set out to be
millionaire and d, he'll be 1t. too: n Ana no
pie, now you mark my words"
And having once more settled Johns
future to his own satisfaction, Uncle Jo~
One morning Mr.. Rice came into the
store in great excitement John, he
said, II hear that two men from Rutland
lower village. right where so many OF the
mill people live. 1t will cut deep into
our grocery trade. sure as you are born.
bur ! don't see how we can do anything
"Why didn't you make an offer to these
men to sell out your grocery department
to them?" asked J hn. quietly.
Sell OUT exclaimed MIR. Rice. you
must be crazy. john
portunity to make a profitable change In
the store. ! believe the time has come
when it will pay you to put in larger
and let the grocery department go. The
new mill will soon b built, and that W Ii
double the mill trade Then. too, ! be
trade that goes 10 Rutland now. People
won't travel twenty-five miles to trade II
they can get goods of the same quality
and price at home. And more than this,
we can increase our trade from the small
er towns around Riverdale by little ju-
dcious adv rtisins in the TT bune."
So Johns id a preva led, and the, store
was entirely remodeled The old win
dows, with wooden shutters that were put
up every night. were taken away, and IN
ii, IL place was a fine show window where
John could make an attractive display OF
~ never see anythin like it." said Uncle
Josia ah in gr at aStonlshment. me
women just tiocked into, the store after
scrumptous in IN new winder. And what
do you spose he did when he was like to
the the depot and ord red a hull carl ad by
telegraph. Yes, sir, he did. dunn
what he will do next.
But the motto able thing tina. Jnhn did
next was not in connection W tn the
store 1t was nearly a year 'ata" when
the Judge OaNburn place was ofre ed for
sale. :, ,
The house stood back some distance
from the village street tn q little grove
of mapl s. and there were several acres
in land connected with il. It was one of
the Oldest houses in town. but IT was
large house. solidly built. and t had a
long portico in front. with tall pillars to
S",l>I "Mr. Rice" said John. 1.-The oakburn
,,ocn is offered for sale at what l call a
verv low figure and I should like to buy
it, I have saved s me money from my
so,arv Would YOU h = willing to lend me
s5ON and take a mortgage on the place.
Cert ainly, John" said Mr.. Rec: That
will be good investment for you.
have no doubt that in a few years you
can sell it to one of the summer people
at big advance.