the path.

"I want," said the gentleman, "to hire a boy for a few days--weeks,
perhaps."

He smiled with two whole rows of teeth that never grew where they
stood. Birt wished he could see the expression of the stranger's
eyes, indistinguishable behind the spectacles that glimmered in the
light.

"What do you say to fifty cents a day?" he continued briskly.

Birt's heart sank suddenly. He had heard that Satan traded in souls
by working on the avarice of the victim. The price suggested seemed
a great deal to Birt, for in this region there is little cash in
circulation, barter serving all the ordinary purposes of commerce.

As he hesitated, the old man eyed him quizzically. "Afraid of work,
eh?"

"Naw, sir!" said Birt, sturdily.

Ah, if the bark-mill, and the old mule, and the tan-pit, and the
wood-pile, and the cornfield might testify!

"Fifty cents a day--eh?" said the stranger.

At the repetition of the sum, it occurred to Birt, growing more
familiar with the eccentricity of his companion, that he ought not
in sheer silliness to throw away a chance for employment.