in't satisfied, gimme the penny and take another!" With
an unerring eye the vendor pounced on the smallest and knobbiest apple
in the tray and offered that.

The old man would have none of it. "Give me my other penny!" said he.

"That's all you get!"

"Give me my other penny or I'll call the police!"

"Yah! For a penny would you! You're a big man of business you are!
Call a cop, go on, and see what he'll say for a penny!" The vendor
passionately searched under a shelf, and producing a ticket marked "4c"
defiantly stuck that alongside the "2 for 5."

"No you don't!" cried the old man. "You can't raise the price on me
after I've bought!"

"One for four, two for five! I guess I charge what I like! I don't
have to charge half the price for one!"

"You're a robber!"

The vendor appealed to Heaven to witness that he was maligned. He
brandished a fist before the old man's nose. "You lie! You lie!" he
cried. "Get out of here. I don't want you by my stand!"

"Give me my penny!"

"Ain't no penny comin' to yeh!"

Evan was not the only grinning on-looker. A crowd collected out of
nowhere as crowds do. The anxious vendor had now not only to keep up
his end of the argument, but to watch his exposed stock as well. But
he showed no signs of giving in.

"Get out of here! I don't want you round me!" he cried.

"Give me my penny!"

"Ain't no penny comin' to yeh!"

They repeated it with incredible passion, over and over.

The crowd at first egged on both parties impartially:

"Go to it, men! A penny's a penny at that!"

"Don't let him jew you, old man. All them dagoes is robbers!"

"Soak him one, Tony, the tight-wad!"

"Sue him for the penny, Grandpa. I'll go witness for you."

"Aw, give him his penny, Mike. He needs a new lid." And so on.

"Gimme my penny!"

"Ain't no penny comin' to yeh!"

Finally the old man threw the apple back on the tray. "I won't deal
with you at all!" he cried. "You're a robber! Gimme my money back!"

"You bruised it!" cried the Syrian tragically. "I don't take back no
spoiled goods. Leave it lay at your own risk!"

"Gimme back my money!" cried the old man undaunted.

A grimy little hand slid out from the crowd and closed over the
disputed apple. In the flick of a whip it was gone, and no man could
say where. The crowd rocked with laughter.

The vendor shrugged. "Ain't my loss. It's his apple."

"Gimme my money back!" demanded the old man.

"Ah,