Pleased at this familiarity, the boy went briskly to his work of
mixing the tempting compound, while Hammond looked on with an
approving smile.

"There," said the latter, as Frank passed the glasses across the
counter, "if you don't call that first-rate, you're no judge." And
he handed one of them to the farmer, who tasted the agreeable
draught, and praised its flavor. As before, I noticed that Hammond
drank eagerly, like one athirst--emptying his glass without once
taking it from his lips.

Soon after the bar-room was empty; and then I walked around the
premises, in company with the landlord, and listened to his praise
of everything and his plans and purposes for the future. The
house, yard, garden, and out-buildings were in the most perfect
order; presenting, in the whole, a model of a village tavern.

"Whatever I do, sir," said the talkative Simon Slade, "I like to
do well. I wasn't just raised to tavern-keeping, you must know;
but I am one who can turn his hand to almost any thing."

"What was your business?" I inquired.

"I'm a miller, sir, by trade," he answered--"and a better miller,
though I say it myself, is not to be found in Bolton county. I've
followed milling these twenty years, and made some little money.
But I got tired of hard work, and determined to lead an easier
life. So I sold my mill, and built this house with the money. I
always thought I'd like tavern-keeping. It's an easy life; and, if