r of the piles. Albert found it rather boring.
He longed to speak concerning enormous lumber yards he had seen in New
York or Chicago or elsewhere. He felt almost a pitying condescension
toward this provincial grandparent who seemed to think his little piles
of "two by fours" so important.

It was much the same, perhaps a little worse, when they entered the
hardware shop and the office. The rows and rows of little drawers and
boxes, each with samples of its contents--screws, or bolts, or hooks,
or knobs--affixed to its front, were even more boring than the lumber
piles. There was a countryfied, middle-aged person in overalls sweeping
out the shop and Captain Zelotes introduced him.

"Albert," he said, "this is Mr. Issachar Price, who works around the
place here. Issy, let me make you acquainted with my grandson, Albert."

Mr. Price, looking over his spectacles, extended a horny hand and
observed: "Yus, yus. Pleased to meet you, Albert. I've heard tell of
you."

Albert's private appraisal of "Issy" was that the latter was another
funny Rube. Whatever Issy's estimate of his employer's grandson might
have been, he, also, kept it to himself.

Captain Zelotes looked about the shop and glanced into the office.

"Humph!" he grunted. "No sign or symptoms of Laban this mornin', I
presume likely?"

Issachar went on with his sweeping.

"Nary one," was his laconic reply.

"Humph! Heard anything about him?"

Mr. Price moistened his broom in a bucket of water. "I see Tim Kelley
on my way down street," he said. "Tim said he run afoul of Laban along
about ten last night. Said he cal'lated Labe was on his way. He was
singin' 'Hyannis on the Cape' and so Tim figgered he'd got a pretty fair
start already."

The captain shook his head. "Tut, tut, tut!" he muttered. "Well, that
means I'll have to do office work for the next week or so. Humph! I
declare it's too bad just now when I was countin' on him to--" He did
not finish the sentence, but instead turned to his grandson and said:
"Al, why don't you look around the hardware store here while I open
the mail and the safe. If there's anything you see you don't understand
Issy'll tell you about it."

He went into the office. Albert sauntered listlessly to the window
and looked out. So far as not understanding anything in the shop was
concerned he was quite willing to remain in ignorance. It did not
interest him in the least. A moment later he felt a touch on his elbow.
He turne