“Shelter from the storm,” he said. “We will be only too glad to take whatever accommodations you can spare, so long as we keep our coats dry, and get a bite to eat; and please understand we will pay for the service. I hope you will not refuse to accommodate us for one night, my friend!”
The old man looked puzzled. He acted as though while he would like to say no, policy compelled him to think twice before committing himself.
“Please wait a minute. I will talk with the good wife.”
He closed the door in their faces as he said this, softly, however, as though not wishing to offend them.
“Well, I like that,” said Amos. “We may have to go elsewhere to get out of the rain.”
“Give them a little time,” cautioned Jack. “It shows that the woman rules here, as she usually does in every home. Don’t you remember that story about the man who started out to learn whether the man or the woman of the house was the actual boss, and found to his satisfaction that it was always the lady?”
“I don’t remember hearing it, Jack,” commented Amos. “Suppose you tell me about it while we’re waiting for them to decide this matter.”
“Oh! I thought it was a chestnut,” laughed Jack. “It’s so good that it would bear repeating anyway. This man started out to please his father, taking ten chickens in the wagon and a pair of horses, one gray and the other a roan. If he found that the woman bossed the house he was to leave a fowl; and should he ever come across a home where the man was absolutely the ruler one of the horses was to be given to the happy couple!”
“That’s interesting. Honest, Jack, I’ve never heard the story before, either.”
“From house to house the man went. In every case he learned that woman ruled the ranch, and so by degrees his supply of fowls got down to a single specimen. Then he came to a place where there was a big burly man and a small sharp-eyed wife. When he stated his case he learned that in this home the man did just as he pleased. Both declared this, and it looked as though he had at last hit on an ideal couple, which would please his father very much.