by half millions, was the slender beginning of these two brothers. And,
although they were from the first, as we have seen them at the last, as
different in their general characters as they were in their persons, they
yet got on very well together; for, however they might disagree respecting
the modes and means of acquisition, they were always as one in regard to
the great result each alike had in view, and that was to make money and be
rich. And, by a sort of tacit understanding, falling into the departments
of business best suited to their different tastes and capacities, the
quiet, cautious, calculating, and systematic Arthur confined himself to the
store, kept the books, contrived the _ways and means_, and, in short,
did the principal head-work of the establishment; while Mark, being of a
more stirring turn, and, from his brisk _bon homme_ manner and less
scrupulous disposition, better calculated for drumming up customers and
securing bargains for the store, did most of the outdoor business, riding
about the country, contracting for produce, securing barter deal, and
making himself, in all things, the runner and trumpeter of the company. At
night they usually met together to compare notes and report progress; and
they were never happier than when they sat down in their small store-room,
hemmed in and surrounded by casks of nails, quintals of codfish, farming
tools, etc., on one side, and narrow shelves of cheap calicos, India
cottons, and flaunting ribbons, on the other, and recounted to each other
the business and bargains of the day. Thus the two, working on, like the
spring and balance-wheel of some piece of mechanism, in harmony together,
soon placed themselves beyond all fears of failure, and seemed happy and
contented with their situation and prospects.

This situation of affairs, however, was not destined to be of very long
continuance. Not long after finding themselves safely on the highway to
independence, they very naturally began to think of selecting, from among
the fair young customers of their store, the ones who might make them