Seeking out the foreman, he asked for work, and the foreman agreed to hire him. "How much do you pay these workmen?" asked the highly magnified one. "Two dollars a day," answered the foreman. "Then," said the Woggle-Bug, "you must pay me four dollars a day; for I have four arms to their two, and can do double their work." "If that is so, I'll pay you four dollars," agreed the man. The Woggle-Bug was delighted. "In two days," he told himself, as he threw off his brilliant coat and placed his hat upon it, and rolled up his sleeves; "in two days I can earn eight dollars—enough to purchase my greatly reduced darling and buy her seven cents worth of caramels besides." He seized two spades and began working so rapidly with his four arms that the foreman said: "You must have been forewarned." "Why?" asked the Insect. "Because there's a saying that to be forewarned is to be four-armed," replied the other. "That is nonsense," said the Woggle-Bug, digging with all his might; "for they call you the foreman, and yet I only see one of you." "Ha, ha!" laughed the man, and he was so proud of his new worker that he went into the corner saloon to tell his friend the barkeeper what a treasure he had found. It was just after noon that the Woggle-Bug hired as a ditch-digger in order to win his heart's desire; so at noon on the second day he quit work, and having received eight silver dollars he put on his coat and rushed away to the store that he might purchase his intended bride. But, alas for the uncertainty of all our hopes! Just as the Woggle-Bug reached the door he saw a lady coming out of the store dressed in identical checks with which he had fallen in love! At first he did not know what to do or say, for the young lady's complexion was not wax—far from it. But a glance into the window showed him the wax lady now dressed in a plain black tailor-made suit, and at once he knew the wearer of the Wagnerian plaids was his real love, and not the stiff creature behind the glass.
Prev.
Back
Top