ent at present,
an'--"

I am afraid I uttered a very bad word at this juncture. Thomas started,
and retired in great discomfiture, and I thought I had made an end of
the matter, but that afternoon I found the small scrap of paper on my
desk--really, I think, with a little practice, Thomas might hope to
rival the man who goes about writing the Lord's Prayer in the space of
half a dollar. My name was in larger capitals, the rest in smaller
letters, than usual, and I was requested "to oblidge him with the sum of
twelve dolers an' a half." I knew then that the first organ-instalment
was due, but I think it needless to add, his application was refused.
About a week afterward, I learned that the Sabbath-school was again
without a musical instrument, the organ having been pawned for twenty
dollars, Thomas paying ten per cent a month on the money. It was so with
everything he undertook. Once he gave me elaborate warning that I must
furnish myself with another messenger at once, as he was going to make
a fortune peddling oranges and apples. Accordingly, he bought a barrel
(!) of each kind of fruit, sold half at reasonable rates, and then, the
remainder beginning to decay on his hands, he came to me, offering
really fine Havana oranges at a cent apiece.

"I'm driffin' 'em off et coss--driffin' 'em off et coss," he whispered,
speaking rapidly, and waving his hands about, oriental fashion, the
palms turned outward and the fingers twirling; this peculiar gesture
seemed intended to indicate the cheapness of his wares. "Dey coss me
mo'n that; heap mo', but I'm faih to lose um all now, en I'm driffin'
'em off, sine die."

After that, some dozen or more of the large wholesale houses engaged him
to furnish their counting-rooms with lunch, and he began with brilliant
prospects. He brought his basket around to me for first choice.
Everything was very nice; a clean new basket, covered with a white
cloth, wherein lay piles of neatly arranged packages done up in
letter-paper, with a strange-looking character inscribed upon each.

"What do these letters mean?" I asked, taking up one of the packages,
and trying in vain to decipher the cabalistic sign upon it.

Thomas chuckled.

"Oh, that's to show de kine of san'wich dey is, Mist' Dunkin. You see,
seh, I got th'ee kines--so I put 'B' on de beef, 'H' on de _hahm_, an' I
stahtid to put 'H' on de hystehs too, but den I foun' I couldn't tell
de _hystehs_ f'om de _hahm_, so den I put 'H I' on