rted, liberal, not afraid to
put a dollar down for a good thing. There's some pleasure in dealin'
with you. I like you so much that I'd put a couple more rods on that
house, one on the north end and one on the south, for almost nothin'."

"It would make things safer, I suppose," said Potts.

"Certainly it would. I'd better do it, hadn't I, hey?"

"Just as you think proper," said Potts.

So the man ran up two more rods, and then he came down and said to
Potts, "There! that's done. Now let's settle up."

"Do what?"

"Why, the job's finished, and now I'll take my money."

"You don't expect me to pay you, I hope?"

"Of course I do. Didn't you tell me to put those rods on your house?"

"My house!" shouted Potts. "Thunder and lightning! I never ordered you
to put those rods up. It would have been ridiculous. Why, man, this is
the court-house, and I'm here waiting for the court to assemble. I'm
on the jury. You seemed to be anxious to rush out your rods; and as
it was none of my business, I let you go on. Pay for it! Come, now,
that's pretty good."

The people who were present say that the manner in which that
lightning-rod man tore around and swore was fearful. But when he got
his rods off of the court-house, he left permanently. He don't fancy
the place.

Keyser had lightning-rods placed upon his barn three or four years
ago; but during last summer the building was struck by lightning and
burned. When he got the new barn done, a man came around with a
red wagon and wanted to sell him a set of Bolt & Burnam's patent
lightning-rods.

"I believe not," said Keyser; "I had rods on the barn at the time of
the--"

"I know," exclaimed the agent--"I know you had; and very likely that's
the reason you were struck. Nothin's more likely to attract lightnin'
than worthless rods."

"How do you know they were worthless?"

"Why, I was drivin' by yer in the spring, and I seen them rods, and I
says to myself, 'That barn'll be struck some time, but there's no use
in tryin' to convince Mr. Keyser;' so I didn't call. I knowed it,
because they had iron tips. A rod with iron tips is no better'n a
clothes-prop to ward off lightnin'."

"The man who sold them to me said they had platinum tips," remarked
Keyser.

"Ah! this is a wicked world, Mr. Keyser. You can't be too cautious.
Some of these yer agents lie like a gas-meter. It's awful, sir. They
are wholly untrustworthy. Them rods was the most ridicklus sham I ever
see--a reg