The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-10-13
The Kings
English.
BY George NJ. A. Cain.
Copyrighted, 1908, by Associated
Literary Press.


girls who sold everything conceivable
from the counters of the big store on
Sixth avenue. The first of these dis
tinctions was that of being the clever
est manipulation of the latest slang
The second was that of being Michael
Maloney's STEADY company"
When Mike had arrived from the
Emerald Isle and had been made a
clerk in the branch of the Amalga
mated Tea Stores company all on the
same day he had been easily persuad-
ed by some friends who had preceded
him into the land of freedom to attend
dance of the Moonlight Athletic as
ISOLATION in the evening. There Nellie
had seen him and, seeing, had been
well, impressed.
"Whos the new harp?" she had
asked with well disguised interest,
whereupon she was duly presented to
"Mr Maloney, just oyer from Dub
lin."
Perhaps 1t was the unconventional
ty of her conversation that attracted
the young Irishman from the start.
Perhaps it was her fresh, young beau
ty. Perhaps 1t was the snap and go
that marked all she said and did.
At all events, Mike and Nellie were
''steadies" from that evening forth
In another sense Michael Maloney
was as steady young man as ever
became a citizen of New York, and.
when he was promoted to the position
of manager in the branch store being
his sweetheart became a real distinc-
tion for Nellie
But shortly after Michaeps promo
ton Nellie acquired new distinction
which entirely eclipsed one of her old
ones and certainly went far toward
finishing the other. 1t all began inno-
Gently enough No one would have
suspected the results when she Dor
rowed one of her favorite authors
novels. There was no sign of danger
until she had got well on toward the
end of the book.
In fact, at the middle of the second
page the girl had handed the volume
back to It's owner, with the comment.
'T can't dope out this talk" But the
other had urged perseverance, assuring
Nellie that she would get used to the
swell guy talk of the story and that
the tale itself was ''somepun grand"
And, sure enough, at page 223 Nellie
was shedding real tears over the sor
% ho rs1ry
to wait on customers, so absorbed had
she become The worst of 1t was that
she had become fascinated with the
swell guy talk" itself. At the end of
the book she began anew to study the
lofty phrases of the empty conversa-
tons, for she had been converted to
the idea that really nice people used
that sort of language instead Of the
very lucid style of her past colIoquies.
She instituted a process Of self refor-
nation. She suddenly forsook the
dances Of the Moonlight Athletes. She
went to night school classes in Eng
fish. She attended lectures on English
at the settlement house. Her progress
in the improvement of her converse
tional style was thing to delight the
hearts of the settlement workers.
In two weeks she had got so far that
instead of remarking that. it was
swell day" she impaired to Mamie
Mcdonnell that "the sun bids fair to
shed his illuminating rays unimpeded
by nebular obstacles"
Mamie promptly admonished her to
come off the roof" One by one her
old friends forsook her and left her
to the society Of pocket dictionary
and grammar-and more of her au-
thor. Her little brothers and sisters
took to spending their evenings on the
sidewalk beyond her correcting infiu-
ence-and palm.
Her father and mother openly sighed
In relief when she sailed forth to at
tend her classes. But all these things
only added zest to her earnestness by
giving it a flavor of martyrdom. She
had the makings of real reformer.
1t was when she undertook to re-
form Michael that she waded In the
waters of real sacrifice to principle
Michael did not yet know how to WELD
the east side slang, but he had
brogue that could be cut only with an
ak, and that brogue was incompatible
with Nellie's new ideas of the refine
ment that must mark her future home
At first she explained her lofty am
billions to her lover. He assented rath-
er vaguely to the proposition. He even
agreed to help her upward move, but
his interest began to languish when
she corrected his pronunciations.
For awhile he would repeat his
words a second time with solemn ear
nestness. Then he merely said "all
right" to her Interruptions of his dis
QUESTIONS and went on with what he
was saying. He was hard hit by Gu
pid's arrows and was willing to stand
for good deal
But on the evening when he had
screwed up his courage to the point of
asking that their relation as STEADY
company be changed to that Of real
betrothal, in spite of his misgivings
about the recent changes in her make
up. she made a fatal mistake.
Don't call me 'swatehear-rt,' she
said petulantly. "It should be pro-
nounced sweetheart His whole dec
laration Of unbounded love had been
given in language very different from
that of similar declarations in the
works of her favorite, and she felt dis
appointed.
His response to her correction must
have been even more disappointing.
The brief expletive used was more en-
tightening to Nellie than any other
words could have been. 1t showed her
that in her beautiful programme of
home refinement, of polite conversa-
ton. of high thinking and speaking,
Michael Maloney was incapable of TAX
ing part.
. Promptly she explained to him that
she felt convinced that future years
would find them happier for avoid
ing the error of continued friendship.
The venture Of matrimony would be
perilous where dispositions were SC
widely at variance. She hoped that ne
would remember her as she would re-
member him, etc. She had a good
deal of her author by heart.
From all of which Michael gathered
that he was being turned down. He
walked away, his big shoulders stoop-
ed, his red locks dropped over his free
killed. face. And Nellie walked the other
vvav her hack very straight. her "Merrl
Widow" hat very high over her eyes
which showed a strong suspicion of
moisture.
No more did she suggest to her moth
er that she needed exercise when she
came home In time to hear one OF the
younger Mores being sent on an err
rand to the tea store.
No more did she arrive at that EN-
porium of close priced groceries just al
the hour of closing. No more did she
walk the shaded bowers of Stuyvesan1
al. IL oil we