ons they could not tell which mine were. Inasmuch
as mine were the only ones that had ever been shipped from the town
wherein I reside, it occurred to me that this remark might be
considered in the nature of a joke. Then there followed another
voluminous correspondence. I appealed to Adams Express Company, who
said they would send out a "tracer"; I did not like to betray my
ignorance by showing that I did not know what a tracer was, but,
frankly, I should not have known one had I met it on the street. But
with the infinite knowledge of affairs that Mrs. W. has, that
remarkable woman signified to me that a tracer was something that goes
up and down and to and fro upon the face of the earth, like a roaring
lion, seeking something, and not generally finding it. It is an
immense consolation, however, to railroad men and others; for it
appears that after a "tracer" has been "sent out," nothing more can,
by any possibility, be done by anybody. Whether or not the tracer had
anything to do with the final result I never knew. But about six
months after I had transmitted my cocoons to that large silk
manufacturing house that paid such large wages to American workmen for
the purpose of fostering American industry, I received a note sending
a balance-sheet, and enclosing a check for eighty-eight cents.

When I received this portentous paper, I observed to Mrs. W.: "My
dear, how much do you suppose we got for our cocoons?" "About
seventy-five cents," was the reply. The mind that woman has for detail
is simply wonderful.

The check I have had framed, and hung up in the parlor, but when I
balanced the books, I still found the profit large, thus:

Dr. _W. in Acc't with Silk Worms._ Cr.
=======================================================================
1887. | | | 1888.| |
| | | | |
Jan. 1, | Cash p'd lumber | $2 00| Feb. | By acc't sales | $0 88
" " | " " carpenter| 25| " | " amt. experience |
| | | | gained | 500 00
Sept. 1,| " " express | 50| | |
Nov. | " " " | 1 00| | |
1888. | | | | |
Feb. | " " postage | 20| | |
| Profit | 496 93