Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1925-12-04
THE
MYSTERY OF
SALLY
20 by Short Story Pub. Coz
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
By CHARLES S. REID

~ ALLY was hired girl, the sew
enteenth since the baby came,
~ about thirteen months before.
But we realized that at last we
had found a treasure. Sally was in
ventive. The Kaleidoscope repertoire
Of amusement which she furnished for
our tootsy-wootsy was something to
command the admiration Of the most
callous-brained pessimist Of the never
smiles
This aggregation Of inventive genius
had been purchased at weekly in
stallment of four dollars. Cheerfully,
we should have made 1t FIVE on de-
mand, within a week after her ar
rival.
But Sally seemed to be devoid of
the graft contamination and, indeed,
she spent her money like lord, more
than half Of her weekly pay going for
glmcracks of one kind or another for
the amusement of our little one A
car ride to the park each day for the
pleasure Of our baby formed one of
her personal extravagances. Baby
soon became so much attached to her
that Mamma" was no longer interest
ing, except at certain periods during
the day, and these periods Sally man
aged so cleverly that no disturbance
came to the household serenity
through baby's impatient demands.
One thing soon became apparent
Sally had the going habit. She want
ed to be away from the house more
than half Of the time, but, as our lit
tie one always came back from these
little excursions In excellent spirits,
and, barring the harasslng fears that
Baby might contract some of the
many contagious or infectious dis
eases Of childhood-such as measles,
chicken-pox, whooplng- cough or some
other horrlfying thlng-thls habit of
Sally's was not at all inconvenlent to
the household.
Another thing which recommended
Sally was the habltual neatness of her
person, and what became an interest
ing mystery to us was the matter Of
how she could spend from two to
three dollars per week solely and I'M
selfishly for the amusement Of our
little one, and dress herself with such
taste on the remainder.
Finally, we decided that Sally must
be getting credit somewhere, and that
we should raise her wages, In order
that she might be enabled to meet
her obligations.
But about this time ! saw Sally
emerging from a bank one day. had
been some distance away and unob-
served by her.
"Ah," l exclaimed under my breath,
she is borrowing Of the bank"
The cashier of this bank was a par
ticular friend Of mine, and I deter
mined to learn something Of Sally's
financial operations. This | had no
trouble in doing, and soon learned to
my amazement that Sally was not
borrower, but deposltor, to the ex-
tent Of forty or fifty dollars a week
My wife and held consultation
over the matter, for the mystery had
deepened. Why one who could indulge
the daily extravagances Of Sally, and
yet deposit forty dollars per week,
should hire herself out at wage of
four dollars per week was amazingly
mysterious-and yet, Sally was not
thief. Not the smallest item of any
thing of value had been missed from
the house, and no coins or bills ever
we're kept about the place.
so the mystery Of Sally deepened.
But, Notwithstanding this, Sally was
by incalculable odds the best nurse
we ever had possessed, or ever could
hope to have, and we determined that
nothing should dispossess us Of her
servlces-no, not II 1t became neces-
sary to raise her wages to ten dollars
per week, which extravaganza I could
Of course III afford.
so Sally remained, keeping up her
usual program, only inventing new
means Of amusement each day. How
long we should have kept her / do not
know. But accident plays a large part
in the movement Of human affairs
and II was an accident which led to
the separation Of our Sally from us
An employee from our mills had
been seriously crushed In dray col
lislon over on the East side. and ]
had gone over to investigate the re
sponslblllty for the accident. This
matter being soon concluded | was
returning TO the office, when | met
jenkins. friend Of mine. jenkins
likes faker, or a slde-show perform.
ance better than anything; and the
East side was noted for its attraction
for takers and showmen Of one kind
or another.
"Hello, old mani" called Jenkins
from across the street, walt mo
ment"
I waited, and jenkins came over.
"Do you know" he began, 81 have
found one Of the smoOthest artists In
the show line down here that I've
seen in a long while"
"What's his class" I asked.
"Wild animal tanner and he has
been playing to crowded houses here
for the past six weeks. You want to
see this, especially the afternoon per
Torrance, at which time he gives an
extraordinary feature"
He was leading, and we soon came
TO the entrance way Of large tent
which occupied a portion Of the area
usually taken up by the showmen.
Outside we're a number Of big posters
announcing both by word and Illus
tration, the wonderful feats performed
by the man inside, among them being
one which was especially horrlfylng