“By no means,” Henry would reply, with the air of a Socrates, “Women can never keep a secret—­I have heard my father say so.”

“We were sure we didn’t want to hear their secrets!” and indignantly clipping away with our scissors, we turned a deaf ear to all further remarks.  However, the secret did come to light after a while, and in a most unexpected manner.

We had just received a liberal allowance of pocket-money, and while Ellen and I deliberated on the various ways in which it might be spent to advantage, Henry asked us, with a perfectly grave face, if we had heard of the new store lately opened near us? New store!  Why there had never been any store at all, except the little stand kept by old Betty Tweednor, and now Henry spoke of the new store as though such a thing had ever existed.  Certainly we had not heard of it; but resolving to remain no longer in ignorance, we seized our bonnets, and were ready to start in a moment.  Henry looked very knowing and mysterious; but following his guidance, we soon found ourselves at the barn which had before excited our curiosity.  Why, it had been turned into a regular shop!  Rows of candies, better known among children as “barber’s-poles,” looked imposingly out of the window, and these were flanked by piles of pea-nuts, apples, &c.  But all these would have been nothing without that delight of childhood—­taffy-candy; and upon a further investigation, we discovered a very ingenious pair of clam-shell scales, with holes bored for strings to pass through, and suspended from a stout stick which was kept in its place by being fastened to an upright piece of wood at each end—­the whole resting upon a very complete counter formed of old boxes.  It looked exactly like a real store; and behind the counter stood Charles, as demure as possible,—­while crowds of our schoolmates gazed, admired, and wondered.

A sign near the door informed passers that “the proprietors, grateful for past favors and the patronage of a liberal public, would continue the business under the firm of Chesbury and Tracy.”  It would be a somewhat difficult task, we thought, to discover the favors and patronage alluded to; but the young merchants had concluded that this clause gave a dignity and air of reality to the whole.  We experienced the pleasure of making purchases, weighed out to us from the much admired clam-shell scales, and were very particular in exacting full weight.  Each sale was recorded in a small account book; and long after we had grown to the years of discretion, our mirth was excited by accidentally meeting with this juvenile record.  So many purchases were made that afternoon, that the young storekeepers perceived with dismay the very visible decrease in their supplies.  We accused them of retrenching considerably in their quantities, on this discovery, and thought that they were too inexperienced for so weighty an office.