The Storyteller.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7837, 1 June 1905, Page 4

The Storyteller.

!V BUSINESS BOOM. '■ r"s Square could not be disby a reference to any street ! ». It was the descriptive r e applied locally to a large. »ce, where !i\e mean strouts ' on their tortuous, dilapidat- • leys to the dwellings of the '■ or". ( onally during the day, but nit night, the people came these streets on the square I ced, and haggled, and bought—- >, or pid clothes, or linoleum r any scrap"of article needed 11 necessity or that a burst of j. seemed to justify. - c drab surroundings there had r a year or two a bright Ht:h of colour lent to the square, is was supplied by a little iall and its attendant. is a neat, diminutive stab, ixir pole 3 rising from the corsupporting a wax-cloth rool. Ses were painted blue Fj picked "tth, red. and the rool ■tike that,»"of a Swiss chalet. 9 cream-coloured roof there lintcd in brown letters : MINJfIE BELL. TOFF'S MAKEH. i 3 herself ,was small, and might >e»n any age from eighteen to -fixe, wore a black Straw* sailoi-hat, serge dress, a clean white' and white over-sleeves. She 1.-ar-cut features and merry fe- brown ejes. The first day she brought g"bsr triin little person and equally * sriiart stand int« '-'Diddler's" Square If these same merry blue eyes had p| smiled away a storm of opposition. j Sir Minnie hereafter held her own, un-juj-ta it came to be that the haoHues have missed the cheery little With grownups she was i SjHnexorabte in her weights and meas- «. ures, but tho youngsters, who were to her for many a bit of 3J5- otherwise unobtainable luxury. & Minnie came into tie square one afternoon, wheeling her premisos-jier stand was so constructed that it could be taken t down, uptiltcdi, and wheeled a wayand, reaching her regular pitch, set |£ up her shjp and arranged her goods.' if Trade was.bad during the afterfir noon and evening, and she took her * tea, which was brought from a cof- £■ fecstail,, hoping that sales would be |ftbrisker later on. After tea she lit ■Cher lamp, and counted and recounted ■futile few pence she bad drawn, and |TBDnic*of the brightness went out of SyMiinuVs eyes. !g -She noticed a man arrive in the Ip square, carrying two boxes and a Br portable stand. He came over to K'.nichin a few feet of her, and set up |2._his stand right in the flow of any SSL traffic towards Minnie. He placed one & box on the top, and set the other 5--in-the street as a platform. Then he fewaited. K I'rcsently a suiart-lookjng young K'nhD, in. frockVcoat and tali hat, arp"wred, spoke for a moment with the I first man, then mounted the box. pheir movements were keenly watched by Minnie, who saw in the new armal an absoluto menace' to her business? '.; 1-ißit.j j ""Ladies and gentlemen," he' began people in the square drifted to-. .wardaffctan, n s if drawn by a magnet— ■* no doubt you are wondering <what has brought me to ' Diddler's jSquarc, and what I've brought to you. J>o not be under any apprehension) that I am going to preach to >'oti. I'm not. lam a philanthropist ljut my philanthropy is in the dir|S*'i)l.s, that your strenuous labours in, E* the griat works in which you toil gijinake you so subject to. K fk " I know your work ; I know your (■** ilUe'ees; I, know how you live. "J f/ ha\e worked and suffered a nd lived :,/.- life you. I gave up the work, on ; the. accidental discovery of this sovremedy, to enable me to go ground among the working people of Stilus vast empire and give to: them |T t .whit was my own salvation from an jg* early grave."r. fie halted to note the effect on his %t audience,, and in s 0 doing his eyes ar ivsled on the little toffeermaker. ft.; - : The'r eyes met, ;aad tor a moment £--«r two he looked as if he had lorthe crowd in front of him gjgj ." Ladies and gentlemen," he began MT/again, turning from the brown eves |g-;that bad held him. '■' this which 1-am IgKpEerins will not cure everything, like K some alleged medicines. It will not gj-ewe broken legs, or black eves, or -g twenty days, or dull trade, or no Wr.? ork -

gjjr* "But I say it will cure headache, Eg-drspepMJ, mdegestion ; and to show *£ you that I moau to be perfectly fair jjgj.with you, T must candially confess* gSJithat it will not cure appendicits. p2r s °|L nKd a surgeon for that- But it SfcTOlTcure sciatica, lumbago, and rheuyet not cold In the throat " K- W* 3 a ßain sought Minnie, whoso |* -Wmd was in her cashbag, running, the Ki-.aattpence through her supple lingers. B s - -"The price of this astonishing |j£ marvellous, expeditious, excellent, e£ psficacious, certain cure is the small E™°' threepence. I do not ask you Kgjta .buy I merely give you the opr EU ' n t Fe J am - hcre is wl wt I want BMo intsoduce to you. I have only a quantity, bottled, corked B&'£!i ap iealed ' "fenod-oa every laW&2: J° u consult Jour own intcrKs«its and jour own welfare—which I gg- am sure every on o of you does-vou P'.wiU secure one of those. You mav has gone from you. Who says ¥0 ■ .Minnie had listened to every word B. *>«> when he started selling she inBg>»tu;ctitely turned to her own undegjsEpleted stall,, gave her weights anothE% er rub, and re-arranged some of her as if she expected sudden busijpS BOSS, Er But the denizens of " Diddler's K*_ Square have only a limited surplus of j&jrcady money, and it was flowing in- % ts> the pockets of the quack. !* r . *• You're quiet to-oight, Minnie," ?_ .said the policeman, who, apart from |£ "knowing the girl well, was on good g- terms with most of the snuure mer- £? chants £-, "Q ul,t ' m 'y. neat's the good. Tip. r.-fcns. got opposition, don't you Cj.St?. You ought to have him shjfu-d jjL'.Jou ought." afc . Tipkins laughed. &-, " I thought you were different, Minify nie - . but \ou'rejust the same as the 5 'others AH want each other shift-; £' ed,"

fjvTft v wanted him moved on so he won't block the people coming along this way ; then .1 might get some coppers before he caught 'em all. Now, go on, Tipkins jog him along a bit—do ! " " I'll see what I con do, Minnie. Toffee good to-night > " ■" Same as always ; try a - bit." The policeman lilted a small piece, smiled to the girl, and passed on his rounds. She drew a few more pence after that ; but the medicine man was doing a roaring business, and in a very short time cleared out his stock and descended from the platform. On the scattering of the crowd Minnie a little run of luck, hut her average returns were wrecked for the night. " What's the price of your toffee, miss ? " Minnie was surprised to see her enemy on ihc other side of the stall, acting the part of customer. " Fourpcnce a pound, sir." " I'll take two pounds." " Thank you, sir." And she deflls weighed them up. "iAre you always in the square, miss'? '' " Most nights ; always on Saturdays." " Is it a good pilch ?"' "It ain't improved to-night." " Sorry I troubled you. I saw my pitch was hurting your trade." " There's your toffee, sir." " I don't mean to insult you, miss, though I am dubbed a quack. I do hate to upset another. (You give good value." " That's all right, mister ; I'm minding my own business." " I reckon so do I miss. I mean s value. When I noticed you standing) against your stall, staring me out of ; countenance, I knew 1 was making an enemy. I don't wan't to. I've a proi position to make to you." I " I ain't catching any kind of fever |to-night, mister." ** You 'misunderstand me. I want to i make amends for spoiling your i trade." 9 " You can do that by getting out, • and staying out, of Didler's Square." > "Now, miss, I'm anxious to be fair » to you. Listen a moment ; and if you don't agree to what I offer, I'll clear. ■ out, and you'll be the loser." •' Go on ; it don't cost aught to lisi ten." i " Well ,do you make your own - goods ?."• ; Minnie, whose anger had cooled . down under the easy good humour of - the voung fellow, answered very ciy- • ily: " I do, sir, every bit." ; "Do you ever make coughdrops ? " ; " I make 'cm in winter time." I " Now ,-I'K tell you what I'll do. If I you make up a thousand bags of the [ coughdrops, with your usual half-penny-worth in each bag, I'll Come > down hero next Salurday and sell i them for you." > Minnie served a few customers and > thought hard. r " At my stall, d'ye mean ? " b • "No ; If you'd permit me, I'd sell • tham where I was to-night." j " 'Tain't -my permission you'd want." ? ; " Well, your goodwill."

" What'h you pay mo for"em 1 " " I'll give you three-farthings a packet. That's an extra farthing profit to you, and I'll make a little bit myself." '■' You're smart. How' do I know you're honest'? " You don't need to know. I'll pa.v you now for a thousand if you'll make them.'' " All right, sir. You lay out the coin, and I'll have 'em next Saturday, sure." " Now. how do I know that you are honest ? " " 1 ain't asking your tr a de, sir, an' I ain't taking any risks.'' " You are quite right, miss. There is the cash." And he counted out the money. " I hope neither of us will regxft the deal. (Joed night, miss." Minniq lived with her father and mother m a i[uiet street about a mile from Diddler's Square. Her father had beon a drayman, but having been run over and lost both legs he had left the earning of the wherewithal to live to Minnie. Her wages as a factory girl, however, were quite inadequate for the purpose. The idea of the stall originated with the girl, the means came sympathetically from the neighbours, and Tipkins. the policeman who lived next floor, gave the wrinkle for the stand. (To be continued.)