shares, aint it?"

"Just one moment, friends," said Mr. Snider, "just one moment."

They got a stool from the "May Queen," and a little table. Mr.
Snider sat down at the table, with Mr. Bowditch and Deacon Chick
hovering near. They produced a bundle of certificates, all printed
in bright purple ink, with a picture of Washington, and a big
eagle, and a flag at the top. At the bottom was a great gold seal,
with two red ribbons fluttering from it. Mr. Snider filled in the
names with a fountain pen, and the number of shares that each man
purchased.

He sat there and simply raked in money. I counted three thousand
dollars before I got tired counting. But they got more than that,
for the black-eyed man--the man who groaned during the speech-
making--told me that old Melvin Eaton, who had tested the gold,
walked away for a while and thought it over, and then came back
and bought four hundred more shares, giving Mr. Snider five
hundred dollars in cash and a check for fifteen hundred. This had
such an effect on the others--for Melvin had a reputation for
being "closer'n the bark of a tree"--that several of them doubled
their previous purchases. One man had already bought a hundred
shares, and now he counted ten more fifty dollar bills into Mr.
Snider's hand. The money went into a black bag, and Mr. Snider
raised the number of shares on his certificate to two hundred.

"No need to waste another certificate," said he.

The black-eyed man pulled me by the sleeve, and led me up the