The Argosy for May — page 192: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A HAND-BAG TOO MANY. | 379 on the ledge of the shelf behind her. “This belongs to some one else.”’ ‘Some one else! ’’ Miss Hutchison ex- claimed. “I’m sure you’re wrong—the bag belongs to me!”’ The girl watched her with a smile upon her lips. “Do you think you lost your bag, madam?” she asked slowly. “ Certainly I don’t think it!” the little lady answered a trifle sharply. ‘I know I lost it. The bag you’ve just picked up is mine.” 3 The smile deepened on the salesgirl’s face. She leaned confidentially over the counter. ‘'You’ve made a mistake,” she said in an amused tone. ‘ Your bag isn’t lost— you're carrying tt in your hands right now!” Miss Hutchison gasped, and, lifting the bag she held, stared from it to the young woman’s smiling face. ‘You're mistaken,” she replied quick- ly. “ This bag isn’t mine—I don’t know whose it is. But the one behind you be- longs to me.” ‘You're sure you haven’t made some mistake?”’ ‘The girl’s voice was kind, as though she was speaking to an un- reasonable child. ‘“ Stirely you wouldn't be carrying somebody else’s bag instead of your own?” Miss Hutchison sat down on the stool before the counter. ‘The situation was aggravating in the extreme. Here she was, within sight of her bag and its precious contents, but she couldn’t get it because this stupid girl thought the bag she held in her hands was her own. Oh, it was maddening ! ‘You wouldn’t be carrying two bags, would you?” the young woman was say- ing. : Collecting her scattered wits, the little lady leaned forward and impressively addressed her. “ Listen,’ she began. “ A young man picked this bag up from the floor behind me on the other side of the store, and gave it to me. I had left my bag—the one behind you—here on this counter, where I bought a pair of gloves not more than half an hour ago. | ‘“Of course, the man thought the chat- elaine was mine; I was near it, and did not carry a bag, as probably every other woman around him did. JI took the bag, thinking it was mine, when I discovered that the one I owned was gone—you can see for yourself how much alike the two are. “That young man and I both made a mistake. You’re making one, too, by holding back my property. Now, won’t you please return my bag to me?” The girl looked at her in silence. The smile had left her lips, and she considered the older woman quite gravely. “Well, you see,” she said slowly at length, “it’s very peculiar, you know— you having a bag in your hands and then coming to claim this one. I don’t want to make any mistake.” “ But that’s just what you are doing!” Miss Hutchison cried earnestly. ‘I tell you that bag behind you on the shelf is mine!” “ Well,” hesitated the girl, “ you see, | don’t know. Maggie—she’s the girl that waited on you, I guess—she told me that somebody’d left her bag here, and to give it to the party when she called. But she didn’t say anything about the person who left it having two bags. And I don’t—” “Where is the other girl—the one who waited on me?’’: “Maggie? She’s gone home. see—”’ “ When will she return? ”’ Miss Hutch- ison impatiently interrupted again. ‘‘ She can identify me and give me back my bag.” “She won’t be back,” calmly an- nounced the other. ‘‘She went home sick, and she won’t be here till to-morrow morning.” The little lady received the informa- tion in stunned silence. This girl would not surrender her bag because she did not know her. The salesgirl who could identify her was not there. How was she to secure her property, then? “This is most annoying!” she ex- claimed at last. “I don’t know what I can do to convince you that the bag you are keeping from me is really mine.” The girl pondered the situation for a moment. ‘Well, ma’am,” she said finally, ‘‘ you understand I’m willing to give you your bag if I know it’s yours. But I don’t want to get into any trouble over it. If You COMMICLOCKS. EO