wonder of the world. He went on to elaborate. He had a thousand to invest and he’d invest it provided we’d take him in as manager and give him full swing. He’d guarantee—etcetery and so on, unlimited and eternal.

"But," says I, when he stopped to eat a throat lozenge, "sellin’ goods is one thing; gettin’ the right goods to sell is another. Me and Pullet—Mr. Beanblossom here—have tried to keep a pretty fair-sized stock, but it’s the kind of stock that keeps better’n it sells."

"Sell!" he puts in. "You can sell anything, if you know how. See here, let me prove it to you. You think this over tonight and tomorrow forenoon I’ll be on hand and demonstrate. Just put on your smoked glasses and watch me. I’ll show you."

He did. Next morning old Aunt Sarah Oliver came in to buy a hank of black yarn to darn stockings with. With diplomacy and patience, the average feller could conclude that dicker in an hour and a quarter—if he had the yarn. Pullet was just out of black, of course, but that Jim Henry Jacobs stepped alongside and within twenty minutes he sold Aunt Sarah two packages of needles, a brass thimble, and a half dozen pairs of blue and yellow striped stockings that had been on the shelves since Abial Beasley’s time, and were so loud that a sane person wouldn’t dare wear ’em except when it thundered. She went out of the store with her bundles in one hand and holdin’ her head with the other. Then that Jim Henry man turned to Pullet and me."Well?" he says, serene and smilin’.It was well, all right. At just quarter to twelve that night the arrangements was made. Jacobs was partner in and manager of the "Ostable Grocery, Dry Goods, Boots and Shoes and Fancy Goods Store."

CHAPTER II—WHAT A "PULLET" DID TO A PEDIGREE

In less than two months that store of ours was a payin’ proposition. Jim Henry Jacobs was responsible, that is all I can tell you. Don’t ask me how he did it. ’Twas advertisin’, mainly. Advertisin’ in the papers, advertisin’ on the fences, things set out in the windows, a new gaudy delivery cart, special bargain days for special stuff—they all helped. Of course if we’d limited ourselves to Ostable the cargo wouldn’t have been so heavy that we’d get stoop-shouldered, but that Jim Henry was unlimited. He advertised in the county weekly and sent a special cart to take orders for twenty mile around. The early summer cottages was beginnin’ to open and ’twas summer trade, rich city folks’ trade, that the Jacobs man said we must have. And we got it, one way or another we got it all. Most of the swell big-bugs had been in 

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