AN ARTIST. 
which were opened up, but no measuring was going 
on. Mr. Sandy was seated at the table quite absorbed 
in the perusal of a novel, perfectly oblivious of the 
pressing calls which everywhere surrounded pressed 
upon him. 
The manager pulled a bag of coffee close in to the 
table, seated upon it, took up the pickinii~book> 
and did his assistant’s work. The latter, hearing an 
extra bustle, looked up, said nothing, and resumed his 
reading ; it was evidently some very interesting passage. 
When the push was over, Mr. Sandy made many polite 
excuses and apologies for the trouble he had given, stating 
that he had merely taken a book to put off the time, until 
a sufficient number had arrived and to get through with 
it all at once. Notwithstanding this explanation, books 
were prohibited from being tafcn into the cherry-loft, 
but Mr. Sandy had other resources. The demand for 
writing paper at the store became extensive. What 
could be the meaning of the increased consumption of 
stationery ? The manager determined to take a sly peep. 
So in the early part of the day, when the cherry-loft was 
all clear, he pulls out the table drawer and examines 
its contents. He, then, for the first time, becomes aware 
that Mr. Sandy is a bit of an artist. Sheet after 
sheet of writing paper presents itself to his astonished 
gaze, covered over with all manner of caricatures, very 
neatly md cleverly done. He had no difficulty in re- 
cognising himself as playing a very prominent part, and 
not a very dignified or refined one, in these lively sketch- 
es. Nor was this all : a number of letters were there, 
and Mr. Sandy’s replies to them, sealed and ready for 
posting, no doubt written on the very paper which 
was supplied for store use. The great demand for 
paper was now all explained. Mr. Sandy had converted 
the cherry-loft into an office or writing-room, wherein 
he carried on all his correspondence, and 23ractised his. 
talent for drawing caricatures ; very neat, pointed, and 
clever, they were, if he had only confined himself to 
the cooly men and women, but the manager con- 
sidered those in which he was a prominent figure as 
very stupid and awffiwardly done, shewing very bad 
taste, or rather no taste at all. It was evident Mr. 
Sandy was a bit of a blockhead. It would have re- 
quired very little tact to have known that it was very 
unlikely the manager would never peep into the table 
drawer. It was just about one of the likeliest places 
he would examine, so to leave caricatures of him there 
.showed little wisdom. 
Mr. Sandy kept a very small pony of a very peculiar 
colour. The main colour of the animal was wdiite ; over 
this were large spots of red, very similar in appear- 
