THE VILLAGE STORE. 359 



good weight and not too much draft), how generously he 

 gave the girl a lump after he had struck the balance; to see 

 him, when it came to cheese, how neatly he gave her a piece 

 to taste on the point of his cheese knife— a rusty old imple- 

 ment it was, but to my eyes it was as a blade of Damascus !— 

 and with w^hat vigor and grace he clave the yellow segment ; 

 to behold him pause— on the road from the grocery counter to 

 the dry goods department— at the candy shelf to give her a 

 "secret;" to see her unwrap the confection and put it in her 

 mouth, and, as she rolled it from cheek to cheek as a sweet 

 morsel, hear her read the couplet on the " secret " paper : 



" If you love me as I love you, 

 No knife can cut our love in two" — 



to hear their mutual tittering thereat ; to see how dexterously 

 Bob threw down calicoes and muslins, ribbons and tape on the 

 dry goods counter ; to see their whispered confidences after 

 the purchases were made and wrapped ; how Bob, under pre- 

 tence to say something in her ear, suddenly shifted his mouth 

 and gave her a rousing smack on the lips ; the pretended 

 anger and attempts to box his ears ; to see what a time they 

 had when they got to the post-office department; how he 

 tried to make her believe there was a letter for her, which, 

 when produced, turned out to be a lottery policy circular for 

 her father; how they parted at the door with mysterious hints 

 and winks intended for my benefit— all this was aggravating 

 in the extreme; but what drove me nearly wild was Bob's pre- 

 tended obliviousness of my presence. I was never intended 

 for a pirate, but when I saw, heard and felt all this, with that 

 cheese-knife lying in easy reach, I felt as much like Captain 

 Kidd did '' when he sailed, when he sailed," as any good little 

 boy ought to feel. 



When Bob became aware of my presence he turned patron- 

 izingly and said, " Well, young man, what can I do for you 



