LONG LAKE. 85 



self followed the same line of conduct and placed 

 a large placard in the window bearing the following 

 announcement: 



ALL OUR EMPLOYES ARE DEAF AND DUMB, 



EAT BAKERY LUNCHES. 

 AND HAVE WARM HANDS. 



Within three weeks he had closed up every other 

 barber's shop in the town, and was on the road to 

 accumulate a rapid fortune, when one day an old, 

 seedy-looking pothouse bum, possessing a flow of ar- 

 gumentative discourse on the then political question 

 of the day which nothing short of a dynamite bomb 

 could destroy, sat down in his chair and began to 

 belabor the opposite party to which Peter belonged 

 in such a torrent of unearthly profanity and biting 

 sarcasm that Peter, unable to stand it any longer, 

 clean forgot he was supposed to be deaf and dumb 

 and talked back. 



A stormy argument followed, in which his employes 

 and a crowd of citizens took part. The shop was 

 dismantled and wrecked, and it was only the oppor- 

 tune arrival of the entire police force of the town 

 Which prevented bloodshed. At the finish just be- 

 fore he surrendered himself into the hands of the big 

 constable who arrested him, Peter thoughtfully kicked 

 over a naphtha lamp which happened to be burning on 

 the counter, and within three minutes the shop was 

 in ashes. 



Two weeks afterward Peter collected his insurance 

 and came back East. 



