t order for goods that had yet been sent.

"We have been much deceived in the quality of
cloths from Yates, Collins, & Co.," ran the note.
"They do not stand wear, though they resemble
yours so closely. Our customers have made numerous
complaints, and desire the old stock, which we are
glad to order again.

"MILES, CHAMBERS, & CO."

This was put up on the bulletin-board, and discussed with much pride at
the club. Every man had an interest in it, and an ambition to excel in
his particular branch. It paid in the long-run to be honest; and, though
there might be a higher principle than remuneration, that was not a bad
test, after all.

So the third summer opened brilliantly. Yardley, Gilman, and four others
drew up an agreement for a co-operative store. They hired one man who
had been a very successful buyer for a large grocery-firm, which had
failed, and took with it his small invested capital. He was to keep the
books, take orders, and do the buying, subject to the advisement of the
managers. A certain low per cent of profits was agreed upon, just
enough, they calculated, to pay expenses; and the goods were to be
offered as low as possible for cash. The superior quality and reduced
price, they decided, would be more agreeable to most of the men than a
small balance at the end of the year. An account was to be kept with
every member, and the agreement to remain in force one year from date.

And yet there are shoals and quicksands for prosperity, as well as
yawning abysses for adversity. There were people in Yerbury--not bad
souls either--who were not content to allow the world to revolve on any
axis but their own. They could see their neighbors' planets go to
destruction with equanimity--following some law of nature or ethics that
regulated supply and demand of any force, in their estimation; but when
some bright particular star flashed out of the orbit they had set for
it, of course it was beyond the pale of safety. There has always been a
great deal of just such obstinacy in the world, just such narrow
prescribing, and yet--"it does move."

One of the favorite objections of these wiseacres was, that Hope Mills
was founded on a wrong basis. Who knew _just exactly_ what amount of
goods Winston sold? Well, there was the amount manufactured,--the amount
on hand every six months. True,--with a disbelieving shake of the
head,