“N-nothin'. G-guess I'll keep the locket. I've, paid for it—I've paid for it.”
“And you are aware, my friend,” said Mr. Judson, “that my clerk has given you the wrong price?”
“Guess that's his lookout.” He still sat there, doggedly unconcerned.
A bull would have seemed more at home in a china shop than Jethro Bass in a jewellery store. But Mr. Judson himself was a man out of the ordinary, and instead of getting angry he began to be more interested.
“Took you for a greenhorn, did he?” he remarked.
“F-folks told me to be careful—to be careful,” said Mr. Bass.
Then Mr. Judson laughed. It was all the more disconcerting to William Wetherell, because his employer laughed rarely. He laid his hand on Jethro's shoulder.
“He might have spared himself the trouble, my young friend,” he said. “You didn't expect to find a greenhorn behind a jewellery counter, did you?”
“S-surprised me some,” said Jethro.
Mr. Judson laughed again, all the while looking at him.