HOW A WOMAN BUYS PAIR OF SHOES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5758, 1 May 1880, Page 7

HOW A WOMAN BUYS PAIR OF SHOES.

She was a woman. If you ever ran a shoe store you would know what followed as she entered the store. She looked all round, picked up a pair of shore ofi the counter, rubbed her thumb along the soles, and timidly asked the smiling clerk, '• Do you keep ladies' shoes here ?" "We do," he promptly replied. "What style shall I show you ?" For more than three weeks she had had her mind made up ■ for a pair which laced on the inside, and all ber friends had encouraged her idea, but it wouldn't have been like a woman "to ask the clerk for that particular style. "Let's see? Let's see?" she mused. "I suppose you have the French heels ?" " Oh, yes," he answered, and he soon had twenty pairs before her. She closely inspected each pair from 28 op to 6s, asked the grade of material in each, and twice during 15 minutes she seemed on the point of trying on a pair. " Are you sure these are the French heels ?" she finally asked. " Oh, yes; you can be sure of that." "Well, I guess I won't buy any to-day. 1 did think some of looking at some button shoes." " Certainly. Here is a large variety. ' Do you wish kid?" "I presume," she answered, as she wet her finger and rubbed the heel of a shoa, " that kid will wear longer than morocco ?" "Of course. These are patent buttons, you see." "Yes, I see. If I ever buy a pair of button shoes I shall insist on the patent button." " Didn't you want a pair of these ?" " Let's see ?" she mused again, fastening her eyes ou the top shelf. She was buried in the deepest thought for a long minute, and the ' clerk hardly dared draw his breath. Then her eyes rested on his garnet necktie, and she said, " Not to-day. Have you shoes which lace?" "Oh, yes." "Those which lace in front ?" " JTes'm. Here is something fine, I can sell you a pair of these for 20 shillings." Can you?" "Why, shoes must have gone either up or down ! Shoes which lace in front are stylish, aren't they ?" "Oh, yes." "And they wear as good as any?" "Just as good. I can recommend the material in these shoes, as they were made for us here in Detroit. Will you try on a pair?" She seemed about to do so. She looked over at the lounge, seized a pair of 3'a, and was then halted by a new idea. She put the shoes down, let her eyes drop to the floor and after a mental calculation of 70 seconds, she suddenly " Did you say you had shoes that laced on the side ?" "Yes, we have. Would you like to see them ?" She hesitated, looked up and down the shelves as if perplexed, and finally said she would. He emptied two boxes, praised the style and material, and advised her by all means to get those shoes if she wanted to be in style and have a good fit. " I can wear threes," she observed as she partly turned away, "but owing " "Yes'm. You do not want a glove-fitting shoe. You are very sensible on that point. Fives are much too large, of course, but they are better for the feet in the winter. These are fives, but very small ones. In . some stores they would be marked threes." "I guess I'll try them on," ahe faintly remarked as she sat down. " Yes'm, I'm sure " No he wasn't. She had suddenly paused again. What if there was a hole in the heel of her stocking ! Suppose her big toe had worked through, as big toes sometimes will. "I can try them on alone," ahe finally said, and while the clerk was busy on I the other side of the couuter she ripped the buttons off her right shoe, pulled it off, and got ber foot into the new one. It was a pinch. Her toes felt cramped and her heel complained. "Do they fit?" asked the clerk, as he leaned over the counter. She didn't say. "Perhaps you had better try Bixes, wiih a broad sole and a low instep," he suggested. " What!" she exclaimed, as her face reddened, " why, I can hardly find my foot in thes3 1 I'll take them on account of my chilblains, but I'll only wear I them round the house!" "Very well—l'll wrap them up." She paid for the shoes, took them in her hand, and went out with a sweat smile on her face, but she was the woman who was heard saying to herself on the street-car, " Gone and made a dunce of myself again, by getting tight ehoea ! I wish I'd thrown the money into the fire !"— Detroit Free Press.