ye on."

"How do you know?"

"Oh, sort o' guessed it. It's the one by the corner o' the rail fence
on the fu'ther side o' the brook as ye go in from the road."

"That's a good guess. It's the very tree. Now then, what about the
price?"

The old man pulled on his pipe for a moment with rather more than his
usual vigor, then removed it from his mouth and faced his visitors.

"Want to buy that tree, do ye?" he asked.

"Sure we want to buy it."

"Cash down, jedgment note, or what?"

The man with the black moustache smiled broadly, showing an even row
of white teeth.

"Cash down," he replied. "Gold, silver or greenbacks as you prefer.
Every dollar in your hands before an axe touches the tree."

Grandpa Walker inserted the stem of his pipe between his teeth, and
again lapsed into a contemplative mood. After a moment he broke the
silence by asking:

"Got the flag, hev ye?"

"Yes; we have the flag."

"Might I be so bold as to ask what the flag cost?"

"It was given to the school."

"Air ye tellin' who give it?"

"Why, there's no secret about it. Colonel Butler gave the flag."

"Dick Butler?"

"Colonel Richard Butler; yes."

It was gradually filtering into the mind of Mr. Hubert Morrissey that
for some reason the owner of the tree was harboring a resentment
against the giver of the flag. Then he suddenly recalled the fact that
Mr. Walker was the father of Colonel Butler's daughter-in-law, and
that the relation between the two men had been somewhat strained. But
Grandpa Walker was now ready with another question:

"Is Colonel Richard Butler a givin' the pole too?"

"Why, yes, I believe he furnishes the pole also."

"It was him 't sent ye out here a lookin' fer one; was it?"

"He asked us to hunt one up for him, certainly."

"Told ye, when ye found one 't was right, to git it? Not to haggle
about the price, but git it an' pay fer it? Told ye that, didn't he?"

"Well, if it wasn't just that it was first cousin to it."

"Jes' so. Well, you go back to Chestnut Hill, an' you go to Colonel
Richard Butler, an' you tell Colonel Richard Butler that ef he wants
to buy a spruce tree from Enos Walker of Cobb's Corners, to come here
an' bargain fer it himself. He'll find me to hum most any day. How's
the sleighin'?"

"Pretty fair. But, Mr. Walker--"

"No buts, ner ifs, ner ands. Ye heard what I said, an' I stan' by it
till the crack o' jedgment."

The old man rose, knocked the ashes out of his pipe and p