THE MAN IN THE FOUR-QUART HAT

“You’ll find your man in the lobby of the Eagle Hotel or in the neighborhood of the hotel on Main Street,” said Dick Prescott.  “You can hardly miss him.”

“But how will I know Mr. Hibbert, when I see him?” pursued the stranger.

“I don’t know that his name is Hibbert,” Dick answered.  “However, he is the only young man who has just reached town fresh from Europe.  His trunks are pasted all over with labels.”

“You’ll know the young man, sir,” Tom Reade broke in, with a quiet smile.  “He always wears a spite-fence collar.  You could bill a minstrel show on that collar.”

“A collar is but a slight means of identification, in a city full of people,” remarked the stranger good-humoredly.

“Well, then, sir, your man also wears a four-quart silk hat, and a long black coat that makes you think of a neat umbrella covering,” Tom went on.

“And lavender trousers,” supplemented Greg Holmes.

“Always wears these things, you say?” questioned the stranger.

“He has, so far,” Dick nodded.  “Mr. Hibbert has been in town only since late yesterday afternoon, and it’s only four in the afternoon to-day.”

“I shall be able to find my man all right,” smiled the stranger.  “You’ve informed me that he is stopping at the Eagle Hotel.  Until now, I knew only that Mr. Hibbert was in Gridley.  Thank you, young gentlemen.”

“Now, I wonder how he knew that,” murmured Tom reflectively.

“Knew what?” demanded Dave Darrin.

“That we’re gentlemen,” Tom responded.

“Oh, he guessed that,” suggested Harry Hazelton.

“He’s a good guesser, then,” remarked Tom.  “I always like to see a man so discerning.  I’m ashamed to confess it, but Dick is the only fellow in our crowd who looks at all like a gentleman.  He is dressed in his Sunday best.  Look at us!”

The other five certainly looked neat enough, even though they did not wear their “Sunday best.”

“Now, fellows, what’s the lowest I’m to take for the canoe?” Dick inquired, after a glance at his watch.  “The train is due in two minutes.”

Instantly his five chums looked thoughtful.

“You’ll get the most that you can, of course,” Greg insisted.

“I shall try to get a good price,” Dick nodded, “but I may find myself up against close bargainers.  So hurry up and vote as to the lowest price that I’m to accept under any circumstances.”

“What do you say?” asked Tom Reade, looking at Dave.

“We ought to get sixty dollars for it, at the very lowest,” Darrin replied, slowly.  “I’d like to pull in seventy-five dollars, for we need every penny of the latter amount.”

“We might get along with seventy,” hinted Harry Hazelton.  “Suppose we say seventy dollars as the lowest possible price that we can consider.”