The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-03-03

she worshipped Nerve. z. P. showed
no lack of this virtue. When the thea
ter tickets cost him So he whistled,
and the rich lady blushed as she waited
in the lobby. But on the next day q.
p. was on hand with an invitation to
visit the Library Then he picked a
free day at the art gallery and let the
lady Tell him Things about Art.
when a little money came in from
the farm did q. P. buy books and burn
his midnight gas? Not z. P. The
young man hurried away to a dancing
school, bought patent leather boots,
well-cut suit and a Hair Cut. A great
Change came over him. You would
never have known the Z. P. who took
the Little Lady from the Boarding
House to a dance every week for the
Comic Supplement from the Woods OF
a month before. The Lady looked upon
her Work, and she liked him.
~. P. failed to pay his board. so
pressing were his dancing and theater
bills, and when his Landlady told him
Widow, he laid his hand tenderly on
her shoulder and said All would be
Well. Then he told the Little Lady of
the Front Parlor how Deserving the
landlady was, and they planned to-
gether. how u. P.'S Board should be
paid. That's how Ze p. came to take
a position in the Little Lady'S shop.
He received SO a week from the start
which is not Usual in Washington. in
spite of the way the clerks Dress.
Now, z. P. has no more Talent for
clerking than he has for Grammar and
I Figures. His great Art is in his Man
ner. This is an inheritance from a ma
ternal Ancestor who had read many no
vels by Bulwer Lytton, and it is of the
I Type you see nowadays only on the
Burlesque stage. 1t is what you might
| call the Donkey-Deferentiai and its
main point of Distinction is the air of
I
owner when he addresses a Lady. Now,
Giggling Girl won't stand for this
Manner but it may Work very well on
Little Ladies of Front Parlors who have
| been Neglected for ten years because
they have Money and men lack Nerve
And when 4. p, the Boy from the
Woods let his big eyes Glow upon the
Little Lady's face and his voice softly,
sweetly Ring with All YOU, Miss Cot
fers, of course, You would or when at
the store he the youngest, dullest clerk
would hastily turn over a customer to
his superior and rush down the aisle to
greet the Little Lady with a Bow far
too low the onlOokers might Singer
but they envied him the Nerve. Then
Y. P. knew how to Wax Confidential,
too; how to tell the Old Folks at Home
the Struggle they had, his Noble Plans
Tor them; and then for Climax-how
much He Owed to the Little LADY, And
the Little Lady felt so Good and so
Happy
There was a little head clerk at the
store who took an Interest in z. p,
and who used to urge him to do better.
Inc conscientious little clerk thought
H. 2. should Show Up mornings on
time once in while. He kept advising
z. P. to Save his Money, to Study in
the evening, to Cut Out Dancing And
H. = listened and said he would. Then
ne told the Little Lady that he ought
TO do so and So but-They couldn't
miss the Play that evening, could
They? And she Planned how he should
study some Other evening.
SO Things went on tin one dav u.
P. took his hat and left the store with
out Explaining. When Hours passed
ana he did not return, the Head Man
declared he would submit to such con-.
duct no longer, and he wrote little
note to Z. P. telling him as much. only
! in Yelled Language. But next morning