As soon as they had their dinner they started off, and Mark and I were left in the store.
“F-first thing’s to fix the windows,” says he.
We picked out the showiest things and put them where folks could see them—and there was everything from a patent churn to a toy duck that waggled its head. One window was like that—just everything put in so folks could get an idea what was going to be sold. The other window Mark fixed up like a town. He used a lot of toys to do it, but we had a lot to do it with. When we were through it was a regular sight, and I’ll bet nobody in Wicksville ever saw anything like it before. There were streets and houses and horses and wagons driving along, and a train coming into the depot, and a band playing in the square, and a fire-engine going to a fire that Mark fixed in a house with yellow paper for flames. It looked pretty real. There were churches and stores, and folks shopping, and kids playing. It was pretty fine.
Next Mark made some more signs—one great big one to stretch across the front of the store, and others on stiff paper to tack upon fences around town. We were to do that after we closed up at night.
All this time we didn’t see a thing of Jehoshaphat P. Skip, but we found out he’d gone to the city about some of his stock that was slow coming. We were just as glad, because he’d be more surprised than anybody when he saw what we were up to.
“Bet Mr. Skip ’ll most strangle all the way down his neck,” I says, “when he sees what’s goin’ on.”
Mark’s little eyes got bright and twinkly, but he didn’t say a word.
Next day was Friday, and we spent that arranging stock. Mark had tables moved to the middle of the store, and we covered them with all sorts of things. This wasn’t for the auction, but for regular business. The first table was a five-cent one, the next was a ten-cent one, and so on. You didn’t have to ask the price of a thing. That made it handy for us and for customers.
“L-lots of folks’ll buy things they hain’t got any use for,” says Mark, “just because they look cheap.”
“Shouldn’t think so,” says I.