he meeting-house round the corner. We will
warrant them not to run nor change. Why, for color, we have nothing like
it in the store.'

All this time, Hiram had been serving his customer; but with both ears
and at least one eye attentive to what was going on near him.

Again Pease commenced to measure, when Hiram stepped deliberately
forward and said:

'Mr. Pease is mistaken, Mrs. Esterbrook, those colors are _not_ fast.'

'What the----' hell do _you_ know about it? Pease was going to say; but
he stopped short at the second word, utterly abashed and confounded at
the extraordinary assumption of the junior clerk. Never before had Hiram
made such a demonstration. Now he stood calm and composed, firmly
fortified by the truth. He looked and acted precisely as if he were the
principal, and the objurgation of Pease died on his lips. He attempted
to cast on Hiram a contemptuous glance, as he managed to say:

'Perhaps you know more about it than I do,' and turned away to attend to
a new-comer.

'I am much obliged to you, Mr. Meeker, I declare,' said Mrs. Esterbrook.

'On the contrary, it is I who should be obliged to you for looking in.
You must excuse the mistake. Mr. Pease is not so familiar with calicoes
as I am. But I will now wait on you myself. We have a box of goods in
the back-store, not yet open, and I am sure I can find in it just what
you want.'

Any one who had seen Hiram's air, and heard him speak, would have taken
him for the proprietor. With what a low, respectful tone he addressed
the lady. How pleasantly it fell on the ear. An immense box of
merchandise to be opened and all the contents overhauled to please her!
Charley was summoned, hammer and hatchet freely used, and the goods
displayed. Hiram, who knew much better what Mrs. Esterbrook wanted than
she knew herself, selected something very acceptable. The price he put
at first cost. Not content with that, he actually sold the lady silk for
a dress, putting it at cost also, and no human being could have been in
better humor than she.

'I am very sorry, Mrs. Esterbrook, for your disappointment about the
first calico you selected,' continued Hiram. 'I do hope you and other
members of your family will look in often, even if you do not purchase;
it sometimes helps one to form a judgment to look at different stocks.
But I must be perfectly frank with you. We profess to sell cheap, very
cheap, but I can never offer you similar articles at the price you have