The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1902-04-29
! pATTY'S
/ BUSINESS
! EXPERIENCE
a. Mann Copyright, 1901,
"azH~ By A. 8.
HUMPHREYS Richardson. 70
rs it as bad as that2" asked Mrs

'and every one thought Mr. Norris was
such fine business man" But she did
not express the thought She knew the
girls loyalty to her dead father.
Patty" she finally exclaimed in tri-
umph, there are the Van Allen girls
going abroad. Their father is a widow
er. He wants companion for them.
You know the continent ike guide
book, and you'd be useful. They're new
to this sort of thing, you know"
Patricia Norris drew herself up very
straight.
Connie don't suggest impossible
things. positively refuse to take po-
sition that savors Of charity. I'm going
straight into the business world and
work-really work"
Mrs. Wilson affected q cheerful ac-
quiescence which she did not feel
"I'm going home now, my dear, and
think this over You'll hear from me
tomorrow And of course you'll sue
coed. whatever you undertake"
Mrs. Wilson had been Patty's gov
erness in the days when such thing
as financial uncertainty seemed far re
moved from the Norris mansion Now
she was manuscript reader for a big
publishing concern. When she reached
her dimly lighted bedroom, third story
back, In noisy boarding house, she
drew forth small handbook and stud
led 1t carefully Asa result of long re-
Election she dispatched the following
note to Patty:
My Dear Girl-Before we do anything
else we must find homes 1 am sick unto
death of boarding Shall we have little
fiat together. a cunning apartment, with
what you want of your dear old things as
furnishings? Then We'll find you the posi-
i ton. But first home-for your sake and
mine. Save me from the fate of hall
bedroom, my dear. It is the chance ]
have dreamed Of for years.
/ Three weeks later Mrs Wilson
caught Patty frowning at her across
dinner table that was homelike and
dainty
| Connie. there's absolutely nothing
left for me to do. The tins are hung
straight in the kitchen, and I've tried
| the bricy-bracy in every conceivable po-
sition. I'm not to be put off any lon
ger. / want job"
| There was mirth in the tone, but ii
rang false. Job from the lips Of Pa
tricia Norris! Nevertheless that same
evening they faced the situation to-
gether. Mrs. Wilson had seen this com
ing and was prepared.
There is absolutely nothing open In
our Offices. as had hoped. Patty, and
the only schools where / would have
influence are supplied with teachers
that never marry or die" She survey
ed the girl through a veil of unshed
tears. You've regular Gibson figure.
dear, and such lovely fluffy hair She
broke off disconnectedly. Patty laugh
ed.
Connie. do stick to the text. Shall
go forth as an artists modelY'
Mrs. Wilson clasped her hands tight
ly.
mot exactly that, but heard of
something today. Patty. that you could
do--so we'll"
Name it." responded Patty, but with
an odd sinking sensation in her heart
AT Schermerhorn's they want-a-a
model to Show of their imported suits,
and you're the very Oh, Patty, don't
look at me like that-I've tried SO hard
to get something betterp
In a second the girls soft arms were
round her neck.
Connie. behave yourselfl OF course
l shall take it and be properly CRATE
full. How muchY
"Only $3.50 a week, but you
wouldn't have got that much, only that
! told the head of the department
what IA beauty you were"
"Flattererr' answered Patty. with a
laugh that sounded more like sob.
So did Patricia Norris make her entry
into the business world 1t was not
hard work. and she never wearied Of
handling the beautiful wraps and
frocks. Her statuesque beauty set
them off to perfection, and the head Of
the department approved of her be-
cause she never got gay" nor wasted
the time of other employees by chat
ting with them. as her predecessor
had done. In fact she held herself
aioof from the other girls in the shop.
It was an odd. unreasoning pride that |
they could not understand If the girls
who thought her proud had known how
she envied them. they might have felt
differently. They worked with their
hands, and She just posed. 1t was not
brain that earned her salary. but a
mere bauble of physical perfection.
And she resented most of all the |
quiet. searching glances of young fell
low who seemed to be in the cashiers /
department. Once when she went to |
draw her salary he stood near the win
dow and handed forth the envelope
without even asking her name. She
flushed slightly. and after that his COM
pelling glance called forth stir little
bow when they came face to face.
One noon when she was threading
her way through a stream of cable
cars and drays she was almost run
down, and the gray eyed young man
from the cashiers department reached
her before the policeman. Two nights
later when she and Mrs. Wilson indulg-
ed in the extravaganza Of tickets for
fashionable playhouse they emerged
upon sudden rainstorm
"Ohv' walled Mrs. Wilson. my new
bonnetrr
lust then some one arrayed in long
coat and balancing a comforting UNI
brella reached their side. It was the
young man from Schermerhorr's.
-"Come back into the lobby, Miss Nor
ris, Vile call a hanson for you"
"A hanson, Patty! He said ham
somw exclaimed Mrs Wilson, almost
tearfully. ''What win It costp'
Il don't know snapped Patty nerv-
ousiy, mot as much as new bonnet"
A few moments later he escorted
them to the waiting hanson, raised his
hat gravely, looked just once into Pat
tvs brown eyes and away they whirl-
ed in the blackness of the night.
At their apartment Mrs Wilson, Gov
eiing her beloved CONNECTION of chiffon
and roses with a handkerchief, rushed
into the hall, leaving Patty to settle the
bill. The latter was strangely silent I'M
til they were brushing their hair, when
she suddenly burst forth in wrath:
1T is bad enough, Connie, to rail in
public over a ruined hat, but to bewaiI
the price of hanson is unforgiva-
ble"
Why Why gasped Mrs. Wilson.
HE paid the hackman, that's ALL"
groaned Patty, and she threw herself
ace downward in her pillows, murmur-
ng, HE needn't think that just be
cause he saved my life he can pay my
hack fare
And yet inconsistency she took a
strange pleasure In recalling the look
n his dark gray eyes when he leaned
Onward
A month later Mrs. Wilson came
rome radiant.