A SHOPKEEPER'S STORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11563, 29 January 1901, Page 3

A SHOPKEEPER'S STORY.

I'.Ms.' Goodie kept a general shop in a Lambeth by-street. Theio was no harm in Mr. j Goodie keeping a general shop, of course; J the harm was—so thought Mrs. and the two I Misses Goodie nothing would _ove I him out of it. He simply wouldn't leave thai 1 shop for love nor money, would Goodie. He [ had, by-the-bye, a nice little nest egg laid I aside; general shops, situate in back streets 1 though they may be, get a good connection | of penny and halfpenny-at-a-time customers. I "Not 'orses would drag him from this 'ere I blessud shop," said Mrs. Goodie, sipping tea I with her neighbour, Mrs. Sniggs, in the par- | lour behind the said emporium. j "You'd no more move him, ma, than I that brick wall in the yard," added the elder j Miss Goodie. The two Misses Goodie were j very genteel in their manners and speech; [ they always said " pa" and " ma." | "Does seem a shame. 'Taint* as if you I hadn't the money, either," said Mrs. Sniggs, •i with. a sympathetic sigh. j "Why 'e's so fond of the place, I "don't know," continued Mrs. Goodie. "It really is in disgraceful repair not fit for a dog to put its nose in. It don't give me no 'eart to keep it clean, you couldn't make it look j decent if you tried to doomsday. I'm just i ashamed, ii you'll believe me, Sarah, for a i body to come near. The place is a wreck j that's the wordand not an atom of coni venience. No water on the stairs nor noi thing. I wanted to go to Tootin' or Streathamnice little 'ouses is advertised there about £36 a-year—cheap, ain't it? Everything as 'eart can wish for too*ot and cold baths, bay windows, and Venetians. Says I to Goodie, 'Wouldn't it be nice to have a garden, dear? We could grow taties then.' " "Potatoes, ma," corrected Miss Georgina j | Goodie. j J "Potatoes," repeated Mrs. Goodie, like a! a parrot, without shifting hei look from Mrs. j I Sniggs. "'And maybe there'ud be a conI servatorywouldn't it be nice, Goodie?' j 'No,' says 'e; 'I'd die without the shop, 3 We've done without a bathroom and garI den and a conservatory all the years of our ( J wedded life, Sally, and it's queer ii we*| j wants changes now.' " V I 1 Well, we shall die if we Stay here—per- ! 1 haps he'll be sorry then," moaned Miss I Angelica Goodie, in martyr-like despair. 1 "It do seem 'ard," observed Mrs. Sniggs. i "No fresh haironly smoke. The curtains I 'd last three times as long in the suburbs Ito what they does 'ere. The men is a puzzle, | though I must say Sniggs is sensible take 'im 1 all round. I'd like to move out a bit mysel', 1 and I dessay we shall one, day. But any 'ow, j if you.- man doesn't want to go, I don't see ! why 'e should stand in your way." 1 "I don't know as I should like to go with- | out 'im," said Mrs. Goodie, with a sniff. I "I've always stood by 'im so fax." |. Meanwhile, out in the poky little shop, I with its jars and tins and boxes, its musty | atmosphere, Goodie was quite happy; in ] fact, he never was happy if he wasn't in the I shop. No suburban house with bay windows and conservatory could have taken its placehe loved it like a child. He knew every jar ,of jam and pickles, every box and its contents, and any. particular ware that anybody j else would have despaired of finding. Goodie 'could lay his hand on in a second. The shop was not the pleasantest place on a summer's afternoon. The yellow concoction sold as butter looked greasy and untempi.ing, an odour of paraffin was prominent, fly papers Were tied round the gas-pipes and other available spaces. Goodie, however, wo« thoroughly in his element. He even took most of his meals in the shop, behind a sheltering pyramid of Hudson's Extract and Goodall's Baking Powder, letting his better half and daughters take theirs in the parlour. The truth was that the suburban house with the Venetians was a nightmare to poor Goodie ; he had been born and bred amongst the pickles, tho paraffin, and the soap, and the thought of leaving his native air for the breezes of Tooting Bee oi Streatham Com mon was torture to him. As Mrs. Sniggs passed through tho shop on lie; way out (there was nc side entrance to the house), she thought it her duty as a neighbour to reprimand Goodie for bis obstinacy. Peoplo are generally ready to meddle in things that don't ooncern them. "Your wife seems very upset about the 'ouse," she said. " What 'ouse?" "Why, no pertic'lar one, but poor Sarah is very anxious to have a nice, clean little place. It's a thankless .task keeping this broken down old 'ole clean—and you know ! how the beetles upsets 'or." ! "They runs about in regiments," con- ! firmed Abraham Goodie, quite calmly. j " Well. I think it's your bounden duty as ! a 'usband and father to let them move. It's ! a pity if you can't ? give up the shop at your time of life." , "A rollin' stone gathers no moss, yer f know," said Goodie, nothing resentful at her | interference. He was a weak, yielding man j in most things, was Goodie, but about the j shop he was more obstinate than any mule i that ever breathed. ■ "But a standin' stone might gathet too much," replied Mrs. Sniggs, a.nd Goodie ] could find nothing to say to such philosophy. [ "Women," he said, " alwus would have the » last word if they died for it.". # ; That evening poor Goodie was again at- ; tacked by his wife. . | "You must move, Abr'am— shall be m : my grave." ; "Be in it," muttered Abr'am. j Whereupon the two Misses Goodie began j to get hysterical. , / "Well, well," said Goodie, losing his j temper; "get the house for mercy's sake, i and the whole street if you like." I - Mrs. Goodie called him a "dear, _ sweet | soul," a.nd the female hysterics subsided. i Having once yielded, poor Goodie was as I pliable as the butter in his shop. Having j decided upon Streatham, his wife and daught- j ers took sundry excursions to the neighbourhood and ultimately found a. house replete with bays, Venetians, electric bells, tiled hearths, and a conservatory Mb square, with | the high-sounding appellation of " Glen Luna." They were to enter this aristocratiiresidence at the September quarter. "You must sell the business, dear love,'" said Mrs. Goodie, who had now fairly got hold of the reins; "we'll put an advertisement in all the papers.'' Goodie groaned, but had to submit to the inevitable. The business, however, did not find a purchase.. Mrs. Goodie could not understand itthough she would have tumbled to it quickly enough if she had been in the shop; but in that place she never by any chance showed her nose if she_ could possibly avoid it. Four different parties had as yet come in to inquire about the business for sale. " It's sold," Goodie had answered promptly to each respective one" day afore yesterday," and. of course, that ended the transaction. '* " Goodie, has nobody been in answer to the advertisements?" said Mrs. Goodie. "I can't understand it." "People ain't wanting to buy up chanller shops every clay," answered her better half, in nowise disturbed. " I'll 'ave to stay 'ere arter all, it strikes me." One day, however, Goodie was fairly dene. He was compelled to go outthere was i:o helj for it, and his wife had to take his place behind the counter, much to fler mV gust. During Goodie's absence, somebody, like several predecessors, looked in to know about the shop advertised foi sale. Gladly Mrs. Goodie submitted all favourable particulars ; they had a splendid connection; it was a good living, and she and her hus band were retiring, etc. " Goodie," she said to nim triumphantly when he came back, "tho shop's as good as sold. Had a party in about it." Goodie looked ferocious. " I wish you'd mind your own business, Sally, and not hinterfere with mine." "You are a fool, Abr'am," was the withering retort. i The business was eventually sold, but it happened that pooi Goodie never left the shop so dear to his heart. One evening, about a week before the process of moving, Mrs. Goodie called him in to supper, and his gruff voice did not respond. The shop was unlit, too, an. unusual occurrence. Mrs. Goodie stepped outside, holding her skirts high for fear of the beetles. "Abr'am,' supper's ready." Still no answer. He was sitting behind the counter on an upturned barrel that had once contained treacle, his head rested back against a biscuit tin, and his arms hung lifelessly by his side. When Mrs. Goodie touched him she knew he would never awaken—and that he would only leave the shop fot a narrow restingplace in the silent .churchyard. His death was really due to heart disease, but nobody knew, all the same, how he had fretted about leaving the shop. - -'■ - -—" HENNING'S, STANLEY-STREET. City, for good reliable bicycles. Price, from ■23RUN DOWN! A remedy of proved excellence for general I prostration is Impey's May Apple." It I acts beneficially as a tonic laxative. It is! entirely free from that drastic purgative, | "aloes," and also mineral substances. It is! purely herbal, and the principal constituents! i consist of a combination of may apple, dan-1 delion, cascara sagrada, turkey rhubarb, etc. [ 2s per bottle.—Sharland and Co. (Limited), j wholesale agents. i