142 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



Jan. 



ed '' well one clay. She takes two out of the 

 basket and gives them to me, while I give 

 her tlie two I have b?en carrying. If the 

 two 1 hand over are exactly right, they go 

 into boxes to be sent off to the first oiie of 

 you that calls for one. If they are not right, 

 they go back to tlie window again ; and if 

 they won't behave then, tliey are put into a 

 box and go buck to the factory where they 

 are made, with a paper tied around their 

 necks like nanglity children, telling what 

 their faults are.' As the factory are steadily 

 improving on them, the nuaiber to b;^ sent 

 back is daily growing less aud less. Of the 

 new series, just out, we are having remark- 

 ably good kick, if that is what it should be 

 called. Almost every morning I find the 

 watch in either pocket exactly right. 1 like 

 watches. When I first went into business 

 for myself I started a watch-repair shop ; 

 and when 1 went to bed at night, the last 

 thing I heard as I closed my eyes was the 

 busy ticking of the clocks and watches near 

 my bed. I succeeded with them, because I 

 loved them ; and it wasn't very long before 

 I had more work than I could myself attend 

 to, and so along came a troop of boys and 

 girls to help. In the drawer before the win- 

 dow behind my back are some of tlie tools I 

 used to work Vvith then, and I enjoy it now 

 to sit down there and make trifling repairs, 

 when I can find time. A watchmaker must 

 be nice in his work, and careful and exact. 

 One who can handle the delicate parts of 

 clocks and watches, and do good to them, 

 and never harm, usually commands good 

 wages, and I am glad he does. 



Didn't I tell you who Addie is ? I'erhaps 

 I didn't. Well, when I used to be a " watch- 

 fixer " her mother was a particular friend of 

 mine, and by and by she got married, and 

 there were some nice "little girls at her house, 

 and Addie is one of those little girls who 

 have got " growed up." Who told her about 

 watches V AVhy, I guess I did. Tou see, 

 she kind o' looks after them, just as you look 

 after the chickens. She forgets them some- 

 times, but not very often ; and then, you 

 know she is one of my neighbors that I was 

 going to tell you about; and as we always 

 ought to be good friends with our neighbors, 

 Addie is a pretty good friend of mine, even 

 if I do have to talk to her sometimes very 

 much as your mother talks to you. 



Well, not only does Addie take care of the 

 watches, but she also has it a part of her 

 business to take your letters down to the 

 counter store and get the scissors, pins, 

 needles, clothes-lines, etc., that you order. 

 Let us go with her on one of her shopping 

 expeditions. She takes a basket, with a lot 

 of letters in the bottom. " Lu," of whom I 

 will tell you more after a while, has first 

 gone over these letters, and picked out what 

 were to go by mail, making the writing and 

 the pj-ices plain, before Addie takes them. 

 Down there we find Eliza presiding, AVhile 

 Addie is picking the things she wants from 

 the counters, Eliza puts more goods in their 

 places. Hep business is to see that every 

 article is always in its place, or a card where 

 it should be, having on it, "Sold Out;'' 

 then when I come along I can see at a 

 glance just what goods we are needing. 



More than this. Eliza keeps a book, with 

 the names of goods nearly out. Here is 

 what I find on the book now : — 



" Five-cent flour-scoops, one left. Paper 

 lamp-shades, two left. Mouse - traps, five- 

 cent, two left," and so on. 



Do you want to know who Eliza is? Well, 

 I think we must have been " neighbors " for 

 over 25 years. After Sue and I had more 

 " prattlers " in oiu- household than " moth- 

 er " could well care for, Eliza came to live 

 with us. The children now think about as 

 much of her as of their own parents, and al- 

 ways did ever since I can remember. A 

 few years ago Eliza got so tired of doing 

 housework that, much as she loved the chil- 

 dren, she had resolved to go off to the city 

 and do some other kind of work. It hap- 

 pened just about the time I had got the 

 " counter-store " fever, and finally I sug- 

 gested that she should " keep store " for me, 

 and not go away from the children entirely. 

 I then learned, "for the first time, that it had 

 always been her wish to keep store, above 

 any thing else. Eliza had been a Christian, 

 years before I was. I presume she well re- 

 members the time when everybody was as- 

 tonished to see me suddenly become a pray- 

 ing man. Well, as I made all my projects a 

 subject of prayer, I had been asking God"s 

 blessing on the store I wished to start, 

 without dreaming that it had any thing to do 

 with her future. She was also praying for 

 God's blessing as she went away from her 

 old home. When "neighbors" are both 

 going to the same God in prayer, do you not 

 see how easy it is for him to show them how 

 they may help each other V She has helped 

 me, andl trust I have been able to help her. 



Would you like to keep store? Well, if 

 you wish to succeed, you want to be a Chris- 

 tian. If you have the desire in your heart 

 to please God, this will make you fair and 

 honest to your customers, as well as to your 

 employer, if you have one. 



Our counter store is now so filled up with 

 goods that it becomes one of the fine arts to 

 see how many goods can be put in a little 

 space. Packages are piled clear up to the 

 ceiling, and every shelf is made to hold just 

 all it possibly can. The window^s are filled, 

 and goods are piled so closely to the stove 

 they are in danger of being scorched. Goods 

 that won't scorch are almost right against 

 the stove ; and when John was here during 

 the holidays he made some wire-cloth bas- ^v 

 kets for lamp-chimneys, right close up to the 1 

 stove-pipe. You see, lamp-chimneys are ' 

 sold very often, and quite a stock must be 

 kept on hand ; and as they occupy a good 

 deal of space it becomes quite necessary that 

 they shall be always handy. We keep the 

 bulk of them in the warehouse, in large 

 casks. Well, now, when we make only about 

 a cent apiece on them it will by no means 

 pay to send a man to the warehouse every 

 time half a dozen lamp-chimneys are want- 

 ed. Do you say a boy should do such jobs ? 

 J3ut, my friends, we don't have boys in the 

 factory at this time of the year. It is true, 

 many of them would like to work, but it 

 v/ould keep them out of school, and I never 

 want to hear anybody say I have kept boys 

 out of school by giving them work here, 



