The story
“Tillie, the typist, was beautiful, and had many admirers. Her favorite was a young man whose only duty in life seemed to be to smoke cigarettes; a second was an aged merchant who lived by renting dress suits and fancy ball costumes, while the third was a rich and arrogant plumber. Tillie’s mother liked the plumber, and Tillie accepted him; the fact that he bought an enormous diamond ring, such as only plumbers could afford to buy, having some effect upon her decision. He also presented her with a locket, containing his picture and a lock of his hair. Tillie attended a ball with the cigarette-smoking youth, wearing a gown that the costumer had loaned her free of charge. The young man had a dress suit from the same place, but he had to pay for it. During the evening Tillie told her admirer of her engagement, and to soothe his sorrow handed him a locket, saying: ‘Keep it to remember me by. It contains my portrait and a lock of my hair.’ These were the same words that the plumber had uttered, and it was the same locket, for thrifty Tillie had thrown out the plumber’s hair and picture and substituted her own!
“When the dress suit was returned the costumer found her locket, and lamented. Then the plumber called to hire a dress suit to be married in, and proudly exhibited the portrait of his fiancée. The costumer was a wise old owl. He gave the plumber the suit, saying that only one man, the cigarette youth, had worn it, and he slipped the locket back into the pocket. The plumber found the locket, and rushed off to have it out with Tillie, the costumer following. His rival and the girl were chatting at the door of her home. The youth ran for his life, uttering loud cries, and the plumber demanded the return of his engagement ring. He was vociferously indignant when Tillie told him that, knowing him to be an ‘Injun giver,’ she had ‘hocked it.’ So the plumber gnashed his teeth and departed. The costumer, who had watched affairs from the background, now came forward. He gently told the girl that he had come to offer her his heart and hand. The girl looked him over critically. She had lost her job and her other suitors, so Tillie accepted the costumer.”
Summary from Reel Life · 30 October 1915
