Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1919-05-22

deeper-like getting a fish hook out Of
your thumb"
Mrs. Chivvis suffered herself to be
persuaded. they visited the whole
salers and the Jobbers and were well
received, having paid cash before
and, thanks to Mr.. Chivvis' suggestion.
having been astute enough to demand
discount for cash.
And 10Y the motortrucks and the
delivery wagons and the cyclecars and
the messenger boys began to pour
stock into the little shop. 1t was pleas
ant not to have to pay for things,
though the tips were reaching alarm
ing proportions, and the bundle of bills
for future settlement grew and grew.
Mrs. Chivvis made a list Of their
debts and tried to show it to Daphne,
but she stopped her eyes and ears and
forbade any discussion that would
quench her spirit.
In the swirl of her tasks Daphne
almost forgot Clay Wimburn. She
was too busy to care much. She had
no time to mourn. Clay was only one
among a myriad regrets, and his af-
fairs could wait. Her business needs
could not.
Clay did not come near her. He
spent a lot of money trying to get her
off his mind. He got a good deal on
his conscience, but not Daphne off his
mind. He longed for her especially,
too, because there came a sudden dis
aster to his schemes. He was not so
rich as he had been. Indeed, he could
not be sure that he was rich at all.
Any day might smother him with
bankruptcy This fear kept him from
Daphne, too.
The bouncing munition stocks that
were known as "war babies" had abb
ruptly fallen into a decline. The sub
marine that torpedoed the Lusitania
shattered Wall streets joy, threw the
dread of war into the United States,
and set every one to questioning the
problem of revenge and its cost.
The slump in the market came at
the most unfortunate moment for Bay
ard and Clay. Any moment Of slump,
indeed, would have come most untime-
ly for their ventures.
"Kip and Chivvis'' were making a
picnic ground Of the shop. Behind the
~soap-veiled windows they laughed and
debated on arrangements and price
tags and show cards.
Mr.. Chivvis, still out of a job, acted
as maid of all work and steyedore,
and grew so useful that they had to
put him out. And at last the moment
arrived when they declared the shop
open, ''raised the curtain" as Daphne
said.
She waited with a stage-fright she
had not felt in Reben's theater. There
was no lack of temperament in her
manner now. But there was no audi
ence, either.
At night Kip and Chivvis locked
their doors and went home, discour-
aged beyond words and dismally
weary in the legs, also in the smile
muscles which had been kept at an ex-
pectant tension all day long.
Occasional purchases were made,
but unimportant. Kip and Chivvis
tried to learn what interested people
and what did not. They realized that
they had far too much of certain
things and far too little of others.
They attempted to sell the deadwood
by marking it down; but it would not
move.
"What do the women care for
prices?" Daphne rallied. 'They are
spending some mans money, anyway.
They pretend that it's to please him,
but they know and we know that it's
because they hate each other"
One day a great lady who could
hardly squeeze through the door
creaked into the shop and spilled her.
self into a startled little chair like O
load of coal. Daphne felt that she was
about to die on their hands or ask for
an ambulance, but she asked instead
for an embroidered breakfast gown
from the window.
Mrs. Chivvis fetched 1t and the old
ogress clutched it from her, holding 1t
up to her nose as If to sniff it. but
really to see it.
THAT'S it! That's what I've been
looking fort she wheezed. "Have YOU
got much of this sort of thing?"
"Oh yes"
"Agh, that's goodi My daughter is
marrying in some haste-a young i'm
beetle who's going over to France to
run an ambulance. I'm Mrs. Romlly."
Mrs. Chivvis waited unperturbed for
further Identification. Daphne had
never heard Of Mrs. Romilly, either,
but she gasped as If she had been say-
ing her prayers at the shrine Of ROM
lily from childhood and now had been
visited by the patron saint, whom she
had recognized at once, of course.
"Oh yes, of course"
Mrs. Romilly was coughing on:
I've been to several shops, and I was
almost in despair until I saw your
sign. If you could do a few things In
rather a hurry I fancy / could give
you a large-ish order. And If the
things were at all successful, I could
throw quite a little trade your Rav.