wter dimes, which the thirsty buyer invariably pocketed
before he could recover from his astonishment.

"I finished my dinner, and was anxious to see the little man perform
again. I approached the little man, and desired him to concoct me a
lemonade. He inquired if I wanted a 'fly' in it. As the flying part was
what I most desired, I answered yes. The little man went through the
motions. I sent the lemonade to its destination, noticing at the time
something remarkably nectarean in the taste. As I supposed the
evolutions which it had accomplished in mid-air had imparted to it an
unusual flavor, and as I wanted to see the performance again, I
immediately subscribed for one more of the same sort. Again the question
about the fly--again an affirmative, with a remark that the bigger the
fly, the better I should be pleased, supposing that thereby he would,
for my satisfaction, make it fly through some new motions. I am
satisfied that this time the fly _was_ larger than on the former
occasion. I was still unsatisfied; another subscription, and another
lemonade, but this time the entomological interrogation was not
propounded--he took the fly for granted, and he was right. About this
time the person who came home with me last night made his appearance. I
shook hands with him at once, for I thought I recognized him. I imagined
that he was a man who, seven years ago, licked me with a rawhide for
stealing his pippins and setting fire to his sugar-bush, and I was
anxious to shake hands for old acquaintance sake. I beg now, however, to
state that I am satisfied this impression was erroneous, for I have this
morning a distinct recollection that the individual of pomological
memory removed to Kansas, where he was first lynched for stealing a
horse, and afterward chosen county treasurer and inspector of election.
However, be that as it may, certain it is, that, at that particular
moment, thinking I had fallen in with an old friend, I invited him to
drink with me. He accepted, and presently he proposed punch, and made a
remark about cobbler. Punch I had heard mentioned as the prince of good
fellows, and I was anxious to make his acquaintance. Cobbler I had only
heard of as a man of lapstones and leather aprons, and I did not
particularly desire to know him. On receiving an introduction to Punch,
I was amazed to find that he was not an individual but a drink--a
luscious combination of fragrant ingredients. Although I was mistaken in
the