ed and at a bench
facing the street Jonah and an assistant pegged and hammered as if for
dear life. Another, who bore a curious likeness to Chook, with his back
to the street and a last on his knees, hammered with enthusiasm. A
tremendous heap of old boots, waiting to be repaired, was thrown
carelessly in front of the workers, who seemed too busy to notice the
sensation they were creating.

The excitement increased when a customer, Waxy Collins by name, entered
the shop, and, taking off his boots, sat down while they were repaired,
reading the morning paper as coolly as if he were taking his turn at
the barber's. The thing spread like the news of a murder, and through
the day a group of idlers gathered, watching with intense relish the
rapid movements of the workmen. Jonah had declared war.

Six weeks after he had opened the shop, Jonah found twelve of Mrs
Yabsley's sovereigns between him and ignominious defeat. Then the
tickets in the draper's window had given him an idea, and, like a
general who throws his last battalion at the enemy, he had resolved to
stake the remaining coins on the hazard. The calico signs, then a
novelty, the fittings of the shop, and the wages for a skilful
assistant, had swallowed six of his precious twelve pounds. With the
remaining six he hoped to hold out for a fortnight. Then, unless the
tide turned, he would throw up the sponge. Chook, amazed and delighted
with the idea, had volunteered to disguise himself as a snob, and help
to give the shop a busy look; and Waxy Collins jumped at the chance of
getting his boots mended for the bare trouble of walking in and
pretending to read the newspaper.

The other shopkeepers were staggered. They stared in helpless anger at
the small shop, which had suddenly become the most important in their
ken. Already they saw their families brought to the gutter by this
hunchback ruffian, who hit them below the belt in the most
ungentlemanly fashion in preference to starving. But the simple
manoeuvre of cutting down the prices of his rivals was only a taste of
the unerring instinct for business that was later to make him as much
feared as respected in the trade. By a single stroke he had shown his
ability to play on the weakness as well as the needs of the public,
coupled with a pitiless disregard for other interests than his own,
which constitutes business talent.

The public looked on, surprised and curious, drawn by the novelty of
the idea and