Accordingly he walked straight into the
Trap and permitted Mr. Zangwill to show him an Assortment of Shoddy
Garments fastened together with Mucilage. The Crafty Merchant came down
from $38 to $6.50, and showed him a Confidential Letter from his Cousin
Sig to prove that the Goods had been Smuggled in, but old Peaceful
Valley refused to Bite. He allowed the Proprietor to talk himself out,
and then he walked up and down the Counters, careless-like, to see what
was on the Shelves, and he did some quiet Figuring in a Memorandum Book
such as they give away at Drug Stores. Before he left he had Traded 20
Acres of flinty Hillside in New Hampshire for the Clothing Store, the
Mortgage on the Land to be Assumed by the New Owner, and he had $75 to
Boot and an Agreement in Writing.
[Illustration: THE TRAPPER]
The Hauler-In is now Clerking and trying to Hold Out enough to give him
another Start.
MORAL: _Lower Broadway is not New England_.
_THE_ FABLE _OF THE_ INVETERATE JOKER WHO REMAINED _IN_ MONTANA
The Subject of this Fable started out in Life as a Town Cut-Up.
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