-looking boot," he remarks, after his close survey.

"Yes, but--"

"Other a'n't so bad, I suppose?"

"Well--I--don't know--that is--"

"Both bad enough."

"Yes, indeed," with an uneasy laugh.

"Let's see the other one." The other one is produced, and examined in
silence.

"Are YOU going to wear them boots up the mountain?" with a tone that
said very plainly, "Of course you're not."

"Why, yes, I WAS going to wear them. Don't you think they will do?"

"I wouldn't trust MY feet in 'em."

"O--h! ARE there snakes? Do you think snakes could bite through them?"

A shake of the head, and a little, low, plaintive whistle, is the only
reply, but they speak in thunder of boa-constrictors, anacondas, and
cobra de capellos.

"They were very good and stout when I had them. I called them very
stout shoes."

"O yes, they're made of good material, but you see they 're worn out.
I don't believe I could mend them worth while. The stitches would tear
out."

"But couldn't you, somehow, glue on a pair of soles? any way to make
them stick. I'll pay you anything, if you'll only make them last till
I go home, or even till I get down the mountain. Now, I am sure you can
do it, if you will only think so. Don't you know Kossuth says,
'Nothing is difficult to him who wills'?"

He was evidently moved by the earnestness of the appeal. "I suppose
they'd be worth more to you now than half a dozen pair when you get
home."

"Worth! why, they would be of inestimable value. Think of the snakes!
I don't care how you do them, nor how you make them look. If you will
only glue on, or sew on, or nail on, or rivet on, something that is
thick and will stick, I will pay you, and be grateful to you through
the remainder of my natural life."

"Well,--you leave 'em, and come over again this afternoon, and if I can
do anything, I'll do it by that time."

"Oh! I am so much obliged to you"; and I went away in high spirits,
just putting my head back through the door to say, "Now you persevere,
and I am sure you will succeed."

I was as happy as a queen. To be sure, I had to walk home without any
shoes; but the grass was as soft as velvet, and the dust as clean as
sand, and it did not hurt me in the least. To be sure, he had not
promised to mend them; but I had faith in him, and how did it turn out?
Verily, I should not have known the boots, if I seen only the soles.
They were clipped, and shaved, and underpinned, and smoothed, and