"Well, this is a queer go, to say the least," exclaimed Richard, after
Mr. Martin had gone. "It's more like a dream than anything else."
"He would never do as he has--leave two entire strangers in charge of
his place--if he was not distracted by this bad news about his son,"
returned Frank; and he hit the exact truth.
"Well, now we are here, we must make the most of the opportunity,"
said Richard. "Let us consider ourselves partners and push _our_
business for all it is worth."
Both boys started in with a will. The first customer was a little girl,
and both Richard and Frank desired the honor of waiting upon her.
But the girl wanted a cent's worth of red chalk, and as neither could
find the article in demand the would-be purchaser was turned over to
Phil, who in turn handed the cash to Frank, while Richard gravely made
the entry upon the daily sales-book.
But the two set diligently at work, and by evening had the stock fairly
well located in mind and also the prices. During the day trade had
been fairly brisk, and when closing up time came they found they had
taken in twenty-eight dollars.
"I don't know if that's good or bad," said Richard. "We certainly sold
goods to all who wished them."
"The thing is to sell to those who don't know whether they want to buy
or not," observed Frank.
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