The Tomahawk., 1925-09-24
THE
MYSTERY OF
SALLY
BY CHARLES S. REID
90 by Short Story Pub. Coz

had found q 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 a weekly in
stallmelt Of four dollars. Cheerfully,
we should have made it 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
gimcracks 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
1rCfn in
and, barring the harassing fears that
Baby might contract some of the
many contagious or infectious dis
eases Of childhood-such as measles,
chicken-pox, whooping-cough or some
other horrifying thing-thls habit Of
the household.
Another thing which recommended
Sally was the habitual 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 I saw Sally
emerging from bank one day. had
been some distance away and unob-
served by her.
"Ah," I 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 1 had no
trouble in doing, and soon learned to
my amazement that Sally was not
borrower, but a depositor, to the ex-
tent of forty or fifty dollars a week.
My wife and I held a consultation
over the matter, for the mystery had
deepened. Why one who could indulge
yet deposit forty dollars per week.
should hire herself out at a wage Of
four dollars per week was amazingly
mysterious-andy yet, Sally was not a
thief. Not the smallest item of any
thing of value had been missed from
the house, and no coins or bills ever
were 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
services-no, not If it became neces-
sary to raise her wages to ten dollars
per week, which extravaganza I could
of course i'll afford.
So Sally remained, keeping up her
usual program, only inventing new
means of amusement each day. How
long we should have kept her 7 do not
know. But accident plays large part
in the movement Of human affairs,
and it 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
lision over on the East side, and
had gone over to investigate the re-
sponsibility for the accident. This
matter being soon concluded, I was
returning to the Office, when I met
Jenkins, friend Of mine. Jenkins
likes a faker, or a side-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, wait a mo-
ment."
waited, and Jenkins came over.
do you know" he began, II have
found one Of the smoothest artists in
the show line down here that I've
seen in long while"
"What's his class?" / asked.
wild animal tanner, and he has
seen 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
oxtra ordinary fpatare"