se wagon had stopped at the town during the entire
previous week, and sold goods which were next to worthless, for the
highest prices to be obtained. They had been cool and shrewd men,
thoroughly dishonest, and they had swindled every one who had had
dealings with them.

"And where did they go to?" asked Andy, of the German, after the
matter had been talked over for some time.

"Ve ton't know. Of ve did ve vould tar an' fedder dem, py chiminy!"
was the emphatic reply.

"That settles it, we won't be able to do any business here," said
Matt, and though they remained in Bethlehem the remainder of that day
and all of the next, his words proved true. Only a few trifles were
sold, and these at prices that did not reimburse them for the trouble
of handling.

Seeing that it would not pay to remain in the town longer, they
started once more on the road, and by the end of the week found
themselves established in a store in Allentown, and doing quite a good
business.

While in this city Andy made a trip to Philadelphia, and had several
more cases of goods shipped on, which Matt was careful to procure
before they might be stolen from the freight depot. The wagon was also
sent to a repair shop and thoroughly overhauled, for the roads beyond
Allentown promised to be rougher than those heretofore traversed.

Both Matt and Andy were curious to know more about the rival
auctioneers, and they wondered if they would meet the men. Nothing had
been heard of them in Allentown, so that their business in that city
was not injured. They did fairly well, although a strike in some of
the mills made business duller than it would otherwise have been.

But both of the partners thought they had no cause for complaint.
During the time they had been away from home they had cleared, above
all expenses, one hundred and seventy-two dollars, which, equally
divided, was eighty-six dollars apiece--not a fortune, but still an
amount which Matt at least viewed with considerable satisfaction.

"If we do as well right straight through," he said, as he and Andy
talked it over on their way to Lehighton and Mauch Chunk, "we will
have quite an amount to place to our credit in the bank by the time we
reach New York again."

"I am in hopes that we will do even better as cold weather comes on,"
returned Andy. "Folks seem to buy more then--I don't know why. And
besides, after stopping at Mauch Chunk, we will only go to large
places, for I think it will pay t