"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. "Still I guess twenty-eight dollars is fair enough for Tuesday."
Both were on hand early next morning. According to Mr. Martin's instructions the show-windows were emptied, and after they had been cleaned, Frank, assisted by Richard, dressed them again.
Now, Mr. Martin's window dressing had always been of the plain, old-fashioned kind, not altogether suited to the present times. He only put in a few staple articles and left them unchanged for a long time.