g "bargains"; and there is nothing that
a true New Englander loves so much as a bargain.

At last there was a commotion in the crowd. Some one had recognized
the auctioneer's team approaching, and presently he jumped out of his
light wagon, greeting the men and women alike, by their first names,
for there were few who did not know Mr. Potter, and there was none
whom Mr. Potter did not know.

Mr. Potter himself was a character of a genus so unique that he was
perhaps the only living example. If it be true that poets are ever
born, then Mr. Potter was born a poet. It was only by the veriest
irony of fate that he was an auctioneer, although undoubtedly it is
probable that he made more money by the latter calling, than he ever
would have gained by printer's ink. And as for fame, that he had, if
it please you. For be it known that no farm of consequence in New
Hampshire hath passed under the hammer these five and twenty years,
but Mr. Potter hath presided at the obsequies. I use that word
advisedly, for, truly, though they make a picnic of the event, the
selling of an old homestead is a funereal sort of pleasure.

The cause of his success lay in the fact that, with wisdom such as no
professional poet has been known to possess, Mr. Potter had combined
his business and his pleasure, so that he became known as a poetical
auctioneer. Gifted with the faculty of rhyming, and well versed in the
poets, he readily would find a couplet to fit all occasions. Sometimes
they were quoted entire, sometimes they appeared as familiar lines
with a new termination, and not infrequently the verse would be
entirely original, provoked by the existing circumstances.

As to his personality, I need but a few adjectives to give you his
picture. He was a large man, and a hearty one. Witty, genial, and
gallant to the ladies. Above all things, he possessed the rare faculty
of adapting himself to his surroundings. Add to this that he was
scrupulously honest and fair in his dealing, and you will readily
believe that he was popular. His name on a "bill" always assured a
large crowd. On this occasion more than the usual throng surrounded
him, as he climbed up into an ox-cart and opened the sale with these
words:

"My friends, we will begin the morning services by quoting a verse
from Dr. Watts, junior:

"Blest is the man who shuns the place
Where other auctions be,
And in his pocket saves his cash
To buy his goods of me."

Then, when