 | Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family |  |
A DRY-GOOD LESSON.
“Have you any stout, dark marines?” said Mrs.
Partington to the shopkeeper. He was one of those
good-humored young men, whose hair, nicely-curled,
betokens an elegant taste, and he stood swaying back
and forth, leaning on his yardstick, and smiled amiably
as the old lady spoke. “Have you any dark marines,
suitable for thick ladies' outside under garments?”
“We have dark moreens, ma'am,” replied he, and
cast his eyes towards a brother clerk, and winked archly.
She gazed upon him a moment before she spoke again.
“Well, well, young man, it was only a slip of the
tongue; and if you never make a greater slip in measuring
cloth, you will be much more honest than many
clerks I know.”
The clerk colored and stammered out an apology, but
it was needless. There was no unkindness in her looks.
The spectacles bent their bows upon him steadily from
the cavernous gloom of the big bonnet, but his perturbed
fancy alone made them terrible. She made the
purchase she intended, and in measure it proved full half
a quarter over what she had bargained for.
| Life and sayings of Mrs. Partington and others
of the family | |