lections of
bright-new tinware.

On the shelves opposite the door lay bright hued calicoes flanked by
jars of peppermint candies, some of which were rendered doubly
irresistible to youthful customers by being cut in heart-shape and
decorated with sentimental mottoes chiefly in verse.

Marsden fitted his shop so well, that he seemed little more than an
animated bundle of secondhand goods. His cowhide boots were the
fellows of those that dangled from the fourth beam. His gayly checked
flannel shirt harmonized delightfully with the carriage robes in the
corner, and the soft brown-felt hat toned aesthetically with the plug
tobacco in the case behind him.

When Flint and Brady looked in at the door, a girl was standing at the
counter, turning over the pile of calicoes. She had brought with her
a pailful of blueberries which she evidently wished to barter for a
remnant of the prints. She showed much disappointment when Marsden
declined to trade except upon a cash basis.

"What might this be wuth?" she asked at length, pointing to a red and
white calico on the second shelf. Marsden, Yankee-like, answered her
question by another. "What'll ye give fur it? It's the end of the
piece, and I dunno but I'd as lives you'd hev it ez anybody."

"Wall," answered the girl, cautiously, "I wouldn't give no more'n six
cents a yard for it."

"Take it along," said Marsden, wrapping it, as he spoke, in coarse
brown paper. As he handed it to her he said: "I _wuz_ goin' to offer
it to you for five cent."

The girl's face fell.

"You see," whispered Flint to Brady, "there never was a woman who
could really enjoy anything unless she thought she had paid less than
it was worth. It is my own belief that Eve bought the apple from the
Serpent as a bargain, and that Satan assured her that he would not
have sold it to Adam at double the price."

As the maiden withdrew, a buggy rattled up to the door of the little
shop. In the broad strip of light formed by the lamp opposite the
door, the creaking vehicle stopped short. A dumpy female in a
nondescript black garment took the reins, while her male companion
descended heavily, putting both feet upon the step, and cautiously
lowering himself to the ground close beside the spot where Flint and
Brady stood. Once assured that he had reached the ground in safety, he
proceeded to take off his wrinkled duster, fold it tenderly, and lay
it on the seat, from beneath which he pulled out a bulky bundle,
se