ff a yacht I'd seen run in the night
afore, 'n' had come ashore with skates on.

"'Want ter buy what?' I sez. 'Want ter buy yer quarry,' he sez again. 'I
heerd ye owned the one t'other side o' the harbor, 'n' if ye want ter
sell it cheap, I'll buy it.' Then I looked at him harder'n ever; sure he
had a jag 'n' was makin' game o' me.

"'Yes,' I sez, 'I'll sell ye the quarry, or the hull island, if ye ain't
sure ye own it already. Better go into the back o' the store 'n' lay
down on a pile o' old sails ye'll find thar, 'n' sleep it off. Things'll
look more nat'ral to ye by that time.' With that he laffed fit ter
split. 'You're all right, old sport,' he sez, 'but I ain't drunk, 'n' if
ye'll set the price low enough, I'll buy yer quarry and pay ye cash
fer't.'

"'Wal,' I sez, thinkin' I'd set the price high 'nough ter knock him
galley west, 'I'll take three thousand dollars fer't.'

"'I'll give ye two,' he said, ''n' pay yer half down.' 'Hev ye got it
with ye?' I sed. 'I hev,' he said, 'aboord the boat, or I'll give ye a
check.' 'Checks don't go here,' I said, 'but if ye've got real money,
'n' mean business, it's yourn at that figger.' Then he went off, 'n' I
was so sure I'd never set eyes on him ag'in I went ter sleep. It didn't
seem five minutes till he blew in ag'in. 'How many acres o' that ledge
do ye own,' he said, 'an' how many goes with the quarry?' 'Wall,' I
said, 'there's about a hundred, 'n' if that ain't nuff ter keep ye busy
blastin' the rest o' yer nateral life, I'll throw in the hull o' Norse
Hill jist ter bind the bargain,' fer I didn't no more s'pose he meant
bizniss than I s'posed I'd got wings. 'Wal,' he says, pullin' out a roll
o' bills bigger'n my arm. 'Here's the kale seed, an' when ye'll show me
what I'm buyin' 'n' a deed on't, it's yourn.'

"Wal, I jist pinched myself, ter see if I was 'wake, an' jumpin' off the
counter, fished a deed out o' my safe 'n' took it 'long, an' showed him
round the ledge, believin' all the time when he'd seen it, he'd tell me
ter go soak my head, er suthin' o' that sort. But he didn't, an' arter I
got hold o' the money 'n' counted it, wonderin' if it wasn't all bogus,
'n' give him a receipt, 'n' he'd gone off, I went 'n' stuck a pin into
my leg, jist ter be sure I was awake, after all. That was a week ago,"
continued Jess, lighting one of the cigars he had set forth, "but I
didn't say nuthin' 'bout it till I'd gone ashore with the money an' the
bank folks hed said it wa