eat, when Miss
Pink, put her head out of the window, and said:--"I shouldn't refuse
four dollars after all, if it was offered," and then she fell back to
her former position.

"Did you think of taking four dollars, miss?"

"Well! I don't care, I've plenty of bonnets at home."

"Well," replied Plush, taking out her purse, and offering her the money.

"What bank is this, miss?"

"Oh, all's right there, Safety Fund, I calculate."

The two ladies exchange bonnets, and Pink pockets the balance.

I may here just as well mention the custom of _whittling_, which is so
common in the Eastern States. It is a habit, arising from the natural
restlessness of the American when he is not employed, of cutting a piece
of stick, or any thing else, with his knife. Some are so wedded to it
from long custom, that if they have not a piece of stick to cut, they
will whittle the backs of the chairs, or any thing within their reach.
A yankee shewn into a room to await the arrival of another, has been
known to whittle away nearly the whole of the mantle-piece. Lawyers in
court whittle away at the table before them; and judges will cut through
their own bench. In some courts, they put sticks before noted whittlers
to save the furniture. The Down-Easters, as the yankees are termed
generally, whittle when they are making a bargain, as it fills up the
pauses, gives them time for reflection, and moreover, prevents any
examination of the countenance--for in bargaining, like in the game of
brag, the countenance is carefully watched, as an index to the wishes.
I was once witness to a bargain made between two respectable yankees,
who wished to agree about a farm, and in which whittling was resorted
to.

They sat down on a log of wood, about, three or four feet apart from
each other, with their faces turned opposite ways--that is, one had his
legs on one side of the log with his face to the East, and the other his
legs on the other side with his face to the West. One had a piece of
soft wood, and was sawing it with his penknife; the other had an
unbarked hiccory stick which he was peeling for a walking-stick. The
reader will perceive a strong analogy between this bargain and that in
the stage between the two ladies.

"Well, good morning--and about this farm?"

"I don't know; what will you take?"

"What will you give?"

Silence, and whittle away.

"Well, I should think two thousand dollars, a heap of money for this
farm."

"I've a