some of them still bright and cheerful, many, alas, pale and heavy
with sadness, might be seen grouped behind the counter, engaged in
handing goods down from the shelves, and displaying them to the
fashionable loungers behind the counter.

One of these girls, by name Esther Ryland, was noticed by many who
frequented M----'s store on account of her unusually attractive
person and elegance of manners; she was a little above the average
height, yet graceful and well-formed, with remarkably handsome
features, and eyes that sparkled like a pair of diamonds. Esther had
not been long in Messrs. M----'s service, yet she had become so
popular as a saleswoman that crowds frequented the particular
counter at which she assisted, and she was known to many who were
unacquainted with her name as the Pretty Shop-girl at M----'s.

Esther was very proud of her attractions, both professionally and
otherwise; she did not calculate, however, that the more popular she
became the more work she would have to do, and that she would, in
time, pay for her popularity with her health, if not her life. She
had, in and out of the store, a great many admirers amongst those of
the opposite sex, but there was one she prized above all others, a
certain Mr. Quintin, a merchant tailor, who had just started
business for himself, and had persuaded Esther to promise that,
after another year's service, she would give up business and become
his wife.

It had been their custom to go for a stroll together on the long
summer evenings, and together they might have been seen, fondly
looking into each other's faces, as, arm-in-arm, they perambulated
the more remote portions of Sherbrooke and St. Denis streets, which