United States or French Southern Territories ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
How long our own supplies would last was eagerly discussed, as we gathered round the butcher's shop, the great meeting-place, to which, in the evenings, most of the camp would come to talk over the affairs of the day. Postmaster, as well as butcher and storekeeper, was Mr. Benstead, a kind-hearted, hard-working man, and a good friend to us in our early struggles.
The boys proceeded directly to the general store, and here made inquiries as to the owner of the vast timber lands that entirely surrounded Hobart. The shrewd old Yankee storekeeper told them that all the timber land in that section was controlled by one of the great paper and pulp companies of the State, and that campers never bothered to get permission to use the land.
No time to fool with loafers who only look on and ask questions." "Strange way for a storekeeper to act," muttered the Deacon. "Must've bin brung up in a Land Office. He couldn't keep store in Posey County a week. They wouldn't stand his sass." Then aloud: "You may gi' me two pounds o' cheese." "Well, why don't you plank down the rhino?" said the storekeeper impatiently.
There was one thing which he did at once, and that was to buy the cottage which Mrs. Burke occupied, from the heir, a non-resident. Mrs. Burke didn't learn this until she went to pay her rent to the storekeeper, who had acted as agent for the owner. "I have nothing to do with the house any longer, Mrs. Burke," he said. "Then who shall I pay rent to?" said Mrs. Burke.
"Now, before we get down to business, who's for a trip to the border line? I want to see just how it feels to be in two countries at once," suggested Phil. The boys agreeing, Garry drew out his pocket map and consulted it, bearing in mind the directions given them by the storekeeper.
'Most eloquent music' did it discourse to Robert's ears, whose dream of a settlement was thus fulfilling, in that the essential requisite, lumber for dwelling-houses, was being prepared. For some sufficient reason, the Yankee storekeeper did not at that time prosecute his avowed intention of foreclosing the mortgage on Daisy Burn.
Walking over to one of the stores, he entered, and asked the proprietor if he had any large firecrackers on hand. "Just two, sir," said the storekeeper, and brought them forth. Each was six inches long and thick in proportion. "How much?" asked the boy. "Seeing as they are the last I have, I'll let you have them for fifteen cents each." "I'll give you a quarter for the two."
The gentleman's dress and general style plainly indicated that he was not a miner, nor a storekeeper, nor a barkeeper; while it was equally evident that the lady was neither a washerwoman, a cook, nor a member of either of the very few professions which were open to ladies on the Pacific Coast in those days.
Whereupon the storekeeper turned hastily back into his shop, leaving Barney Custer of Beatrice, Nebraska, U.S.A., to wonder if all the inhabitants of Lutha were afflicted with a mental disorder similar to that of the unfortunate ruler. "I don't wonder," soliloquized the young man, "that he advised me to shave off this ridiculous crop of alfalfa.
Lawford turned to gaze curiously at the storekeeper. He certainly looked to be of a salt flavor, did Cap'n Abe Silt, though so many of his years had been spent behind the counter of this gloomy and cluttered shop. He was not a large man, nor commanding to look upon. His eyes were too mild for that save when, perhaps, he grew excited in relating one of his interminable stories about Cap'n Amazon.
Word Of The Day