"You see, people are buying the old things now," said the good woman. "So put it in the window, and we'll see what it will do."
THE OLD-FASHIONED HAND SCREEN.—Drawn by E. A. Abbey.
Nora tremblingly chose a place for the little screen. She tried to be very conscientious, and interfere with none of Mrs. Brace's wares, but she contrived to hang the screen so that the name "Penelope" shone in the glare of the gas. Then she sat down, feeling as if she were awaiting a Fate. People came and went; a few customers who were more troublesome than profitable; some of the hurrying glances were bestowed upon Nora's screen, but no one asked to examine it. The savory odors from Mrs. Bruce's kitchen were finding their way into the shop, making poor Nora hungrier than ever, when she noticed a tall young man in passing look critically at the screen, and then turn back, and finally open the door.
Nora's heart throbbed.
"Will you let me see that screen, miss, if you please?" he said, politely.
Nora unfastened it from the line with rather nervous fingers. The young gentleman held it up in the light, f examining it carefully. It was a moment of suspense that to Nora seemed an hour. Then she heard him say, half under his breath, "Penelope—queer—"
"Yes, sir," said Nora, earnestly; "it is an odd name. I don't know how it came there; it—" Then she stopped short, remembering there was no necessity for explanation to this stranger.
The young man seemed, however, scarcely to have heard what she had said. He continued his inspection of the quaint little screen, finally lifting his eyes with a look of amusement or pleasure in them, as he said:
"How much is this?—it is wonderfully good."