ingstone said. They had done a good deal of this
lately.

While they were waiting for the dishes, Barrifield began emptying his
pockets. He produced first from his vest an article that caused
Livingstone to whisper:

"I say, old man, put that clock out of sight. You can hear it all over
the place."

Barrifield stared at him reproachfully.

"That," he said, with great deliberation, "is a watch."

"I wouldn't have believed it," said Van Dorn, taking it in his hand. "I
thought it was a water-meter."

Perner held it to his ear. In his youth he had lived on a farm.

"Twenty-horse-power vibrator," he announced, after listening.

"Stem-winder and -setter," continued Barrifield, undisturbed. "Perfect
time."

The article was passed around.

"Didn't they have any thicker ones?" asked Livingstone.

"Well, of course," assented Barrifield, "it _is_ a trifle thicker than a
fine gold watch, but it's a perfect gem in other respects. The
manufacturer of it told me he had carried one of them a year, and that
it hadn't varied a second in that time."

"Maybe it was stopped," suggested Van Dorn, but Barrifield ignored this
libel.

"Every boy will want one of the 'Whole Family' watches," he went on. "We
can sell a barrel of them in every town."

"How many of them come in a barrel?" interrupted Livingstone.

Barrifield leaned across the table.

"And I can buy them," he said eagerly, "I can buy them for seventy-five
cents! Think of it! Seventy-five cents! A five-dollar watch, given with
the finest weekly paper ever offered, for only one dollar a year!"

"How will you do that?" asked Perner.

"That leaves us twenty-five cents for the paper."

"Why, you know, we'll add something for postage and packing, as I said
before."

"Yes, and it will take something. By the time you get a box on that
thrashing-machine, properly nailed and mailed, it will cost twenty-five
cents." Perner's business experience was manifesting itself.

"Oh, pshaw, Perny!" protested Barrifield, "it won't cost half so much.
We can get boys and girls for three dollars or so a week to attend to
all that."

Perner closed his eyes for an instant and saw in fancy an army of
youthful clerks packing various premiums for mailing. Then, remembering
the difficulty with which he had managed even a small business with less
than a dozen assistants, he sighed. He knew that big businesses really
_were_ conducted, and with a science and precision that was a constant