“Nor I,” returned Andy. “But, see, there is quite a crowd gathered around yet. Let us make the most of the chance.”
“I am too unstrung to auction off any stuff,” admitted Matt. “That first scare was enough to take the heart right out of a fellow. You go ahead if you wish, and I’ll clean out the window and get things ready for that new frame and glass.”
So without further delay Andy began to address the people, and soon he had the store once more filled. He kept on auctioning stuff off until one o’clock in the afternoon, when the crowd thinned out, being composed principally of folks who had come into the city to visit the circus.
By that time Matt had set the carpenter and the glazier to work, and the new woodwork and the glass were in. All it needed was a couple of coats of paint, and the show window would be as good as new. The owner of the building, having heard of the affair, came around to view the situation, and expressed himself perfectly satisfied with what had been done.
“And I’m glad you made them pay up on the spot,” he said. “For if those circus people had been allowed to leave town I would never have gotten a cent.”
And to show his gratitude, he bought a razor and 115 strop for himself, and a pair of scissors for his wife.
“There will not be much doing now until evening,” said Andy to Matt. “So we will have dinner and then one of us can deliver those articles that lady bought.”
“I’ll deliver the stuff, Andy. I fancy the walk will brace me up more than anything else would.”
“Well, go on then,” said Andy, and so, after he had had dinner, Matt set out with the bundle of goods under his arm.