his vocation assiduously but
fruitlessly. The farmers and the citizens of Tinkletown were slow to
take up insurance. They would talk crops and politics with the obliging
Mr. Gregory, but that was all. And yet, his suavity won for him many
admirers. There were not a few who promised to give him their insurance
if they concluded to "take any out." Only one man in town was willing to
be insured, and he was too old to be comforting. Mr. Calligan was
reputed to be one hundred and three years of age; and he wanted the
twenty-year endowment plan. Gregory popularised himself at the Crow home
by paying for his room in advance. Moreover, he was an affable chap with
a fund of good stories straight from Broadway. At the post-office and
in Lamson's store he was soon established as a mighty favourite. Even
the women who came to make purchases in the evening,--a hitherto unknown
custom,--lingered outside the circle on the porch, revelling in the
second edition of the "Arabian Nights."

"Our friend, the detective here," he said, one night at the close of the
first week, "tells me that we are to have a show in town next week. I
haven't seen any posters."

"Mark Riley's been goin' to put up them bills sence day 'fore
yesterday," said Anderson Crow, with exasperation in his voice, "an he
ain't done it yet. The agent fer the troupe left 'em here an' hired
Mark, but he's so thunderation slow that he won't paste 'em up 'til
after the show's been an' gone. I'll give him a talkin' to to-morrer."

"What-fer show is it?" asked Jim Borum.

"Somethin' like a circus on'y 'tain't one," said Anderson. "They don't
pertend to have animals."

"Don't carry a menagerie, I see," remarked Gregory.

"'Pears that way," said Anderson, slowly analysing the word.

"I understand it is a stage performance under a tent," volunteered the
postmaster.

"That's what it is," said Harry Squires, the editor, with a superior
air. "They play 'As You Like It,' by Shakespeare. It's a swell show. We
got out the hand bills over at the office. They'll be distributed in
town to-morrow, and a big batch of them will be sent over to the summer
places across the river. The advance agent says it is a high-class
performance and will appeal particularly to the rich city people up in
the mountains. It's a sort of open-air affair, you know." And then Mr.
Squires was obliged to explain to his fellow-townsmen all the known
details in connection with the approaching performance of "