THE VILLAGE STORE. 353 



biting " No. 6," the fiery " Kian Pepper," the gingery " Com- 

 position," the nauseating " Lobelia," and other beverages. I 

 know them all by heart, for I have gone through the whole 

 course, and a terrible ordeal to my young mind and body it 

 was. These preparations would often drive away disease 

 without being administered at all. Often, when expressing 

 myself as too sick to go to school, miraculous cures have been 

 effected by a mere look at the burning drinks being prepared 

 for my recovery. Not that I loved to go to school more, but 

 that I liked " composition " less ! 



And there is the show case, the contents a mercantile 

 museum, and its glazed lid still inviting guileless youth to 

 rest its elbows on it and break through. It didn't used to be 

 thought worth while to putty the panes of glass, so frequently 

 were they broken, and I observe they are still only tacked in. 

 As an inducement to the over-confiding and morally delin- 

 quent to invest in a grab, I see a ten-cent note pasted on the 

 under side of one of the panes. The standard mercantile joke 

 in specie times was to nail a counterfeit quarter to the counter 

 and thus tempt erring human nature with illusory hopes. 

 Varied the contents of the show case. Here the hired girl got 

 the bows, the ribbons and " balm of a thousand flowers " 

 wherewith to ensnare the village youths ; and here the latter 

 got the "galone" to besprinkle his handkerchief, and the 

 " bear's oil " to anoint his locks, both of which w^ere to make 

 him irresistible in the eyes of the aforesaid. There were eyes 

 for the blind in the shape of German silver spectacles, razors 

 for the unshaven, soap for the unclean and fish-hooks for the 

 fisher of fish. But what took my attention, when a lad, was 

 the knife department of the show case. First and foremost 

 among the collection was that vade mecum — the knife with a 

 dozen blades and other appliances, among Avhich were a cork- 

 screw, toothpick, file and gimlet. This, while it bewildered 

 me, was beyond my aspirations. There were knives of six 



