Evening star., 1914-04-22
THE EVENING STORY.
The Ten-Cent Store.
fcon,ri.bt, 1914, by ". wernes1

Il was called merely the ten-cent
.tore onca YOU entered you found
yourself surrounded by oewiider-
ment of things which might be yours
for the asking and a dime. Flowers
h,oomed here perennially, forget-me-
nots daisies and huge roses blushing
their way through a gamut OF coior.
Across the street Pilchard, the florist,
.,so sold roses-at $35 the dozen. IL
anneaued to one to consider how many
dozens S35 would buy at the ten-cent
store.
A. the back Of the store, beyond the
roses and the thousand other thinss
beloved of the poor. was region u
perpetual incandescence where JUDITH
French lived six days out OF tne seven
from s o'clock in the morning until o
o'clock at night. Between her ana the
rest of the store was q counter piieu
with sheet music. Great stachs VI
sheet music filled the shelves unoe.
the counter. Back against the wall
stood an upright piano upon "nlen
Judith was obliged to play any piece
of music that she was asked to play.
Judith was a small girl with down
right gray eyes and lot Of brown
hair which, no matter how tight she
called it, had way of creeping out
into charming looseness about her
face. There was good deal of
strength in her slim wrists and hands,
and though both orten ached Woe1uliy
by o'clock she gave no sign Sne haa
no color to lose, and SO did not look
as tired as she frequently felt. Even
on q certain awful DAY when she nao
to play the latest popular rag thirty
seven times sne played the last notes
as sayy as the rn,saa ftst bsr hhe naY nsS' sas a
had broken the record for one-day
sales with Polly Peaches"
However, music Of. Of the the ZIP Polly ~
Peaches style vas not not taen the kina iaaebt o
to play. Sometimes at night, when sne
walked to her boarding house her
head throbbed with the foolisn stun
she all day had been playing and sne
father actually looked out of heaven
and saw her. Her father had been
a musician with a touch OF genius.
Visions he had. and dreams But ms
sell, his pupils left him because ne
scolded when he should tactfuily have
approved. aud SO at last he found
himself PLAYING in an ,ona orehestaa Isa 1sft Lol
to him-Judith. He determined to
make OF her what he had failed to
make of himself. There was one point
he overlooked-Judith was growing
All her days had begun and ended
with music so long as she could re- re.
member. She thought sometimes she
had Inherited as,ass for it ,fr from si her
clan and then as soon as ever she
could died to be rid Of }e- him mr. Yet 3sthas be-
heart she kept on studying and pre-
tended to be what he wished. In her
heart she knew that she was a miser-
able fraud and failure.
He died before he knew. But for
ton. He had left h her RI nothing thing. save. a
niano and q vast deal of music in all
stages of dilapidat99n; kai9s n1 The rent rent on
necessary expenses were met there
was nothing to pay it with. An at
tachment was put on the piano and
the bust Of Wagner. Judith never
saw either Of them again. With her
father.s music she moved ir.o a hall
bedroom and began to look for work.
She was twenty years old. She had
no stanch friends. Misfortune spells
desertion.. She, tried going out to give
her would not pay. 1t chauced that