344 



JUVENILE GLEANINGS. 



June 



spells, almost the minute she reached the 

 office. It seems her girl left her unexpected- 

 ly, and she tried to do her own housework 

 before coming here, and a long walk on a 

 hot morning overtasked her strength, and 

 slie was carried home and laid on a bed ot 

 sickness that seemed to cut off all hope of 

 even her presence to direct, for at least sev- 

 eral days to come. 



What v^^as to be done — especially what 

 was to be done for you, my friends V P^rnest 

 had been assisting the girls in the office 

 Avork, and knew how to li!l a great many im- 

 portant posts. His health is greatly improv- 

 ed, and he has decided not to take his nor- 

 thern trip until after the swarming season. 

 I asked Ciod what was to be done, and then 

 I got the best help T knew of. As every 

 room in the building was doing its utmost, I 

 was obliged to call in outside lielp mostly. 

 Ernest, Maud, and even Blue Eyes, were in- 

 stalled, and a little demure black-eyed wo- 

 man wliom the children fondly term " Aunt 

 JNIate " was installed in the place Ida had so 

 long held, of opening the letters, counting the 

 money they contained, and distributing them 

 for the dozen or more clerks to whose de- 

 partment they belonged. Do you think it 

 would be a small thing to just open letters 

 and take out the money, my young friends ? 

 Well, I tell you that, after years of experi- 

 ence, I have found it one of the most trying 

 and difficult things I ever called ui)on a hand 

 to do, to do it accurately and rapidly. 1 have 

 seen a great many Avho thought they could 

 doit; but before they were through with 

 one large mail, they found out their mistake. 

 For instance, a great many of you say you 

 [)ut so much money in the letter, and then 

 forget to do so, and it therefore devolves on 

 the clerk to count carefully all the money 

 and stamps, and note the same on one cor- 

 ner of the letter, and then see if it agrees ex- 

 actly with the amount claimed to have been 

 inclosed. A careless person might drop 

 some of the stamps or money, or might leave 

 some of it in the envelope when it is thrown 

 into the waste-basket. Again, many of you 

 omit your i:ame or town or State, and some- 

 times we find a clew to it on the envelope; 

 no envelopes are to be thrown away un- 

 til the full address is seen to be all there ; 

 and besides these two things there are al- 

 most a dozen other equally important ones 

 to be kept constantly in mind. It is true, 

 that every one who sends us a letter ought 

 to be sure himself that the address is com- 

 plete ; and he ought also to be sure the mon- 

 ey is right, and that all stamps or loose 

 articles be securely pinned or pasted to the 

 letter, so they can by no accident be drop- 

 ped. We have learned by sad experience 

 the importance of thus fastening every thing 

 inclosed, securely to the letter, although 

 very few letters come to us that way. Only 

 last week a friend insist^ed his stamps were 

 all inclosed, even after being told they were 

 not, and he then said our clerk must have 

 left them in the envelope, and that I ought 

 not to employ such careless clerks. No 

 wonder poor Ida looked hurt at such an in- 

 sinuation. After all the intense zeal and 

 earnestness with which we, day after day, 

 scan carefully, ?'nstf?e and oui, every envelope 



that is put into our hands, to be told we 

 must have left the stamps in the envelope ! 

 I tell you, friends, caret uless is reduced to an 

 science here in this busy office of ours ; and 

 were it not, our business would never have 

 assumed the position it has now. 



Well, Aunt Mate opened the letters— she is 

 Mrs. "Neighbor 11.^" you know, and of 

 course she knew bees, and letters too, pretty 

 well. Another new neighbor must count 

 the money and get it to the bank ; and I tell 

 you, that was another pretty big job, for one 

 unused to it. Some of the other clerks 

 might have assisted, it is true ; but they 

 were already overburdened, as it was. Will- 

 ing and able helpers we had, almost as many 

 as could get a sitting-place or standing- 

 place in the office; but without the old 

 "stand-bys," Ida and Miss M., our office 

 looked like a "home without a mother." 

 Folks were complaining because we did not 

 send the goods, and the goods were going 

 by the carhjad daily ; but the stoppage in 

 the office prevented their bills from going, 

 and for a few days it seemed almost imi)os- 

 sible to tell any one whether his goods had 

 gone or not. Were the machinery of the 

 ledgers moving along with its accustomed 

 daily routine, it would be easy to tell all 

 about it at a glance; but as it was, I was, 

 almost for the lirst time in my life, unable 

 to give every letter a prompt answer by re- 

 turn mail. As it was of far more impor- 

 tance that goods be sent, than that ques- 

 tions were all answered, for nearly a week 

 some of you may have written, and written 

 again ^ even without any reply. Of course, 

 we got many lectures on the importance of 

 punctuality, and a good many seemed to take 

 it for granted that that was the way we al- 

 tcays did things when they administered ad- 

 vice ; but we were too busy to say a word 

 back, and perhaps it was just as well to let 

 actions speak instead of words. 



Miss M. is with us again, and the pile of 

 unanswered matter is diminishing ; but Ida 

 is still prostrate on her sick-bed ; and al- 

 though she teases daily for some of the let- 

 ters to answer to you, my friends, she looks 

 so white and feeble that both the doctor and 

 myself tell her she had better lie still and be 

 qiiiet. Although it has been a hard matter 

 for me to think of the annoyance it has per- 

 haps given you, my friends, yet there have 

 come some pleasant experiences about it. 

 Many of the boys and girls who are my 

 neighbors have developed business powers 

 and abilities I hardly expected to tind ; and 

 if you should get a price list or a sample 

 copy addressed to you in a very pretty, child- 

 ish hand, you may recognize it as the hand- 

 writing of Blue Eyes. ' We have all worked 

 hard to keep up, and many of us have prayed 

 that God would give us strength and wis- 

 dom ; and if any of you, my friends, have 

 suffered serious loss by this blockade in the 

 ottice here, if you will tell us what will make 

 the matter satisfactory, I will try to pay it. 

 God has taught me a lesson by it; for I know 

 better now the value of these kind neighbors 

 about me, and I can feel, too, how helpless I 

 should be without them. It has, as it seems 

 to me, drawn closer the ties of friendship 

 that exist between us, and made us feel that 



