he said
were "the jaws," of sizes to shut round brooms of three different
thicknesses and hold firmly, while he did the next thing, which he made
known in this wise:

"Now I shall sew it. The number six have only two sewings--all they need,
they are so thin. The others have three. They are all sewed with waxed
linen twine: the higher sizes have pink, because it looks better; the
others have tow-colored. You see my needle? It is some like a
sail-maker's, but not exactly. I have two, though one will last a
lifetime. I keep them in this oiled rag to prevent them from rusting.
They cost fifty cents apiece, and were made of the very best of steel.
See what nice metal it is!" He held out one, shaped more like a paddle
than anything else, polished to the last degree, and as lustrous as
silver; then he threw it on the floor to show us how it would ring.

"Broom tools of all kinds are made at Schenectady, but my needles, knives
and combs come from Hadley. I will show you the combs pretty soon; the
knives you have already seen. Let me see--where did I lay that other
needle? No, you need not look for it; I must find it myself. I have to be
careful where I leave my things, so that I can put my hand on them the
moment I want them. Oh, here it is," picking it up with his long supple
fingers, and rolling it securely up in the oiled cloth.

"Now you notice I put on this _palm_," and he held up what looked like a
mitt just large enough to cover the palm of the hand and the wrist,
having a hole to slip the thumb through and leaving that and the fingers
free. It was made of cowhide, and sewed together on the back, while in
the inside was set a thimble against which the needle was to be pressed
in doing the hard sewing, while the leather protected the skin from being
fretted by the broom.

"It is not just like a sail-maker's palm," he added. "I have one of those
which a man gave me, and I will show it to you." So going again to his
dark closet, he groped for it among his multifarious things, and came
back with one similar, except that it was of raw-hide, and the thimble
was a little projection looking like a pig's toe.

[Illustration: "PLANT THE BROOM!"]

He sewed the broom through and through, producing the three pink rows.
Then he said he would comb it to clear away the loose and broken stems;
and so he passed through it a sort of hetchel made of thirty small
knife-blades set in a frame, "which cost me," said he, "more than you
wo