ould take a switch-engine to budge him an
inch. See 'im nod? He knows what we are talking about."

Henley led her through the long room to his desk in the rear, and gave
her a seat near the open door as the clerk and the porter went out to
the wagon. She took off her hat and pushed back her luxuriant hair with
her fingers.

"You go on with your work," she said; "don't mind me."

He applied himself to some writing he had to do till Cahews came with a
slip of paper on which he had noted the weights, quantities, and values
of the things she had brought, and with a polite bow he handed it to
her.

"Look it over, Dixie," Henley jested. "Old man Hardcastle's daughter has
rubbed a rabbit-foot on Jim so that he can hardly add two and two.
Besides, he is always rattled when he's waiting on a pretty girl."

"Well, he won't rattle any more than a green gourd round me, if that's
the case," Dixie said, as she began to run over the figures, her lips
moving as she counted on her fingers. "I know in reason it's correct,"
she said, extending the slip to Cahews. "No, wait a minute," drawing it
back and looking at it again. "If I'm not powerfully mistaken, Jim, you
are swindling yourself out of twenty cents on the string-beans. There
was one peck instead of two."

"I told you Jim was rattled," Henley continued to jest. "But I won't
discharge 'im. I'd pardon him if he was to set the store afire, under
the circumstances. I've seen him wash his hands in the kerosene tank and
wipe 'em on his clothes just after Julia Hardcastle driv' by in a
hug-me-tight buggy with a drummer."

"Well, I wouldn't blame him much," Dixie smiled in her sympathy for the
embarrassed clerk. "She is nice and pretty, and one town-girl that isn't
stuck up. I like her. She wants to have a good time; she likes attention
and good clothes, and I'm sure I'd be just like her if I had half the
chance. She called to see me the other day, and Ma and Aunt Mandy fell
in love with her. They think she has lots of common-sense, and they
know. I had another call. Carrie Wade waited till she saw me go to the
field to work, then she come over and asked if I was at the house. Ma
told her where I was, and she come over the clods grumbling like a
spoilt baby about getting dust on her shoes. What do you reckon she
wanted?"

"I can't imagine," Henley answered, as Cahews, flushing with delight
over the compliment to the maid of his choice, moved away.

"She come to cut at me," Dixi