DAN'L BOREM

BY E. N--S W--T--T


I


Dan'l Borem poured half of his second cup of tea abstractedly into
his lap.

"Guess you've got suthin' on yer mind, Dan'l," said his sister.

"Mor'n likely I've got suthin' on my pants," returned Dan'l with
that exquisitely dry, though somewhat protracted humor which at
once thrilled and bored his acquaintances. "But--speakin' o' that
hoss trade"--

"For goodness' sake, don't!" interrupted his sister wearily; "yer
allus doin' it. Jest tell me about that young man--the new clerk
ye think o' gettin'."

"Well, I telegraphed him to come over, arter I got this letter from
him," he returned, handing her a letter. "Read it out loud."

But his sister, having an experienced horror of prolixity, glanced
over it. "Far as I kin see he takes mor'n two hundred words to say
you've got to take him on trust, and sez it suthin' in a style
betwixt a business circular and them Polite Letter Writers. I
thought you allowed he was a tony feller."