"Where's Andrew?"
"Andrew's coming home for roast pork and apple sauce," I said,
"and I'm going off to sell books for a living. Mr. Mifflin
here is teaching me how. We've got a book on road mending
that's just what you need."
I saw Mr. and Mrs. Mason exchange glances. Evidently they
thought me crazy. I began to wonder whether we had made a
mistake in calling on people I knew so well. The situation
was a trifle embarrassing.
Mr. Mifflin came to the rescue.
"Don't be alarmed, sir," he said to Mr. Mason. "I haven't
kidnapped Miss McGill." (As he is about half my size this was
amusing.) "We are trying to increase her brother's income by
selling his books for him. As a matter of fact, we have a
wager with him that we can sell fifty copies of `Happiness and
Hayseed' before Hallowe'en. Now I'm sure your sporting
instinct will assist us by taking at least one copy. Andrew
McGill is probably the greatest author in this State, and every
taxpayer ought to possess his books. May I show you a copy?"
"That sounds reasonable," said Mr. Mason, and he almost
smiled. "What do you say, Emma, think we better buy a book or
two? You know those `Funeral Orations.'..."
"Well," said Emma, "you know we've always said we ought to
read one of Andrew McGill's books but we didn't rightly know
how to get hold of one.
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