we shipped him two thousand dollars goods only last Saturday.'"

"Did they?" Morris asked.

"How should I know?" Abe said. "Sammet is such a liar, Mawruss, he
couldn't tell the truth no matter how surprised he would be. But one
thing is sure, Mawruss--Gladstein did owe Sammet Brothers for a big bill
of goods and the widder paid them out of the insurance."

"Could she do that when the feller leaves a family, Abe?" Morris
inquired.

"The feller didn't leave no family, Mawruss," Abe answered. "Leon Sammet
just takes a chance when he said that to the doctor. As a matter of
fact, Mawruss, Gladstein was one of them fellers which he ain't got a
relation in the world. Mrs. Gladstein neither, except _im_ Russland.
That's the way it goes, Mawruss. A feller which he has got so many
cousins and uncles that he gets writer's cramp already indorsing
accommodation paper for 'em, understand me, lives to be an old man yet,
and all the time his relations and his wife's relations is piling up on
him; while a man like Gladstein which you could really say has a chance
to enjoy life, Mawruss, is got to die."

Morris nodded.

"Don't I know it?" he commented. "And I suppose the widder sells out the
store."

"_Oser a stueck_," Abe said. "She's still running the store, and making a
fair success of it too."

"Is that so?" Morris replied. "Well, then, why couldn't we get some of
her trade, Abe? Bridgetown ain't so far away from here. Why don't you
take a run over there sometime and see what you could do with her? Might
you could sell her some goods maybe."

"Yow!" Abe exclaimed derisively. "We couldn't sell that woman goods, not
if we was to let her have 'em for the price of the findings, Mawruss.
She's got an idee that she is getting stuck unless she would buy goods
from the same concerns that sold Gladstein."

"Well, if that's the case, Abe," Morris said, "she could never make no
big success there. A feller like Leon Sammet would just as lief stick a
widder as not--liefer even."

"Sure, I know," Abe replied.

"Then why don't some one give her a couple pointers about that feller,
Abe?" Morris inquired.

Abe nodded solemnly.

"You know a whole lot about women, Mawruss, I must say," he commented.
"You could give a woman pointers by the dozen about a man, Mawruss, and
swear to 'em with six affidavits yet, and what good would it do? It's
like putting a 'Wet Paint' sign up. Everybody feels the paint to see if
it really would be wet."