ed."

Turkey-red again! I surrendered.

"All right," I said, "give me Turkey-red."

"How much, sir?" she asked.

"I don't know--say five yards."

The lady looked at me rather strangely, but measured off five yards of
Turkey-red calico. Then she rapped on the counter and called out "cash!"
A little girl, with yellow hair in two long plaits, came slowly up. The
lady wrote the number of yards, the name of the goods, her own number,
the price, the amount of the bank-note I handed her, and some other
matters, probably the color of my eyes, and the direction and velocity
of the wind, on a slip of paper. She then copied all this in a little
book which she kept by her. Then she handed the slip of paper, the
money, and the Turkey-red to the yellow-haired girl. This young girl
copied the slip in a little book she carried, and then she went away
with the calico, the paper slip, and the money.

After a very long time,--during which the little girl probably took the
goods, the money, and the slip to some central desk, where the note was
received, its amount and number entered in a book, change given to the
girl, a copy of the slip made and entered, girl's entry examined and
approved, goods wrapped up, girl registered, plaits counted and entered
on a slip of paper and copied by the girl in her book, girl taken to a
hydrant and washed, number of towel entered on a paper slip and copied
by the girl in her book, value of my note and amount of change branded
somewhere on the child, and said process noted on a slip of paper and
copied in her book,--the girl came to me, bringing my change and the
package of Turkey-red calico.

I had time for but very little work at the office that afternoon, and
when I reached home, I handed the package of calico to my wife She
unrolled it and exclaimed:

"Why, this don't match the piece I gave you!"

"Match it!" I cried. "Oh, no! it don't match it. You didn't want that
matched. You were mistaken. What you wanted was Turkey-red--third
counter to the left. I mean, Turkey-red is what they use."

My wife looked at me in amazement, and then I detailed to her my
troubles.

"Well," said she, "this Turkey-red is a great deal prettier than what I
had, and you've got so much of it that I needn't use the other at all. I
wish I had thought of Turkey-red before."

"I wish from my heart you had," said I.

ANDREW SCOGGIN.

--_The Lady or the Tiger, and other stories._

HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD