Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1909-03-18

somecning on account. / have a men,
orandum of her name.
Here Sydney Gerald paused. Mrs.
Spofford turned pale, but her nerve
was with her, and she managed to
force a smile
by accident again. resumed Sgd
,ney. 81 turned corner one evening
and bumped against young woman
in tears. was stranger. but when
she understood that l had taken up
the business OF reformer she told me
the cause Of her distress. She was
seamstress.
"She had worked wax on q gown
for well known + dy ord on carry
ing 1t to the house had been told that
she must wait a couple Of weeks for
her pay She was going home penni-
less. hungry and the rent unpaid. The
lady in tie case bought q diamond
tiara next day that was mentioned In
all the papers. She could have paid
the bill q thousand times ever, but
she needed the diamonds first. 1 paid
the seq Mistress
There was an uneasy movement up
ard down the room. and fer some rea-
son al eyes Were directed On Mrs.
fact, but with Il sang froid that did her
credit she put up her lcrgnette and
stared TT q picture on the wall.
Il happened in az milliaer's," said
| Sydney, with smile. Queer place
for man to be, but l happened
Can't say that was looking for hat.
but in searching out subjects for re-
form you have to drop into various
places. Nilliner nice little widow.
( All her capital in the business. Just
! received letter from wholesale
! house threatening suit on bills over
due. Her customers all rich, but they
didn't pay cash down. Don't pay in
three or six months In fact, they
di6nt pny fer year or so and only
when forced to. i have seen many OF
the hats that were bought there that
way. Relieved the distress and passed
| on
Every lady In the room except the
! Hon. Mrs Spofferd had on an eXDen-
siye hat. Each lady started to look at
the other. but gave it up and cast
down her eyes with proper modesty.
They might not all have known the
milliner referred tc. but they had
thoughts. After painful silence Mr.
Gerald continued:
Happened to meet the butler of q
house where l frequently call. just
happened, you know. Down in the
mouth; looked bilious. AS a would
be reformer | spoke to him and got his
story. Lady of the marSion hadn't
paid his wages for five months and
had borrowed his savings besides. He
dared to speak to her about it, and she
had sent him packing. Saw the same
lady buying u $500 ruby ring the Other
day"
!. Every lady in the room helplessly
glanced at the hands of every Other
lady A poodle dog belonging to ont
OF them seemed to be the only thing IL
the room at ease.
Happened to call on n florist" SAID
the cbliging reformer when the silenc,
had endured to the painful point:~ jus
happened so. One of his statements Of
|
accounts sent out to a lady had beer
returned with a very sharp note. Th'
account was two years old. and be
cause be sought to collect it the debtor
Informed him that she should take he
patronage elsewhere. 1t was only ont
case out of a score. SympathiZed witt
the florist and passed on. Happened
across a discharged coachman, dis
charged for limiting that he wanted hi
wages. Helped him out with a fiv,
dollar bill. Happened to run across
governess in the same fix. That's all
Good evening, ladies'
For two minutes after the reforme
|, disappeared no one spoke Then on
lady after another rose up to so and
turning to the honorable widow. work
ed up a smile and said:
81 isn't Sydney Gerald just too charm
ing for anything. And how awful o
people not to pay their billsw