“Have you any work, sir?” was repeated in a still lower and more timid voice than that in which her request had at first been made.

“Yes, we have,” was the gruff reply.

“Can I get some?”

“I don’t know.  I’m not sure that you’ll ever bring it back again.”

The applicant endeavored to make some reply to this, but the words choked her; she could not utter them.

“I’ve been tricked in my time out of more than a little by new-comers.  But I don’t know; you seem to have a simple, honest look.  Are you particularly in want of work?”

“Oh yes, sir!” replied the applicant, in an earnest, half-imploring voice.  “I desire work very much.”

“What kind do you want?”

“Almost any thing you have to give out, sir?”

“Well, we have pants, coarse and fine roundabouts, shirts, drawers, and almost any article of men’s wear you can mention.”

“What do you give for shirts, sir?”

“Various prices; from six cents up to twenty-five, according to the quality of the article.”

“Only twenty-five cents for fine shirts!” returned the young woman, in a surprised, disappointed, desponding tone.

“Only twenty-five cents? Only?  Yes, only twenty-five cents!  Pray how much did you expect to get, Miss?” retorted the clothier, in a half-sneering, half-offended voice.

“I don’t know.  But twenty-five cents is very little for a hard day’s work.”

“Is it, indeed?  I know enough who are thankful even for that.  Enough who are at it early and late, and do not even earn as much.  Your ideas will have to come down a little, Miss, if you expect to work for this branch of business.”

“What do you give for vests and pantaloons?” asked the young woman, without seeming to notice the man’s rudeness.

“For common trowsers with pockets, twelve cents; and for finer ones, fifteen and twenty cents.  Vests about the same rates.”

“Have you any shirts ready?”

“Yes, a plenty.  Will you have em coarse or fine?”

“Fine, if you please.”

“How many will you take?”

“Let me have three to begin with.”

“Here, Michael,” cried the man to the attendant who had been first addressed by the stranger, “give this girl three fine shirts to make.”  Then turning to her, he said:  “They are cotton shirts, with linen collars, bosoms, and wristbands.  There must be two rows of stitches down the bosoms, and one row upon the wristband.  Collars plain.  And remember, they must be made very nice.”

“Yes, sir,” was the reply, made in a sad voice, as the young creature turned from her employer and went up to the shop-attendant to receive the three shirts.

“You’ve never worked for the clothing stores, I should think?” remarked this individual, looking her in the face with a steady gaze.

“Never,” replied the applicant, in a low tone, half shrinking away, with an instinctive aversion for the man.