“Rather monotonous, I should think,” said Mary.  “I am surprised his wife did not make him wear coat and trousers made from the same piece of calico.”

[Illustration:  THE OLD STORE ON RIDGE ROAD]

“The dry goods,” continued Aunt Sarah, “retained the scent of coffee, cheese and dried fruits some time after being purchased but no one minded that in those days.  I still remember how perfectly wonderful to me when a child appeared the large, wide-mouthed glass jars containing candy.  There were red and white striped mint sticks, striped yellow and white lemon sticks and hoarhound and clear, wine-colored sticks striped with lines of white, flavored with anise-seed.  One jar contained clear lemon-colored ‘Sour Balls,’ preferred by us children on account of their lasting qualities, as also were the jujubees, which resembled nothing so much as gutta percha, and possessed equally as fine flavor; also pink and yellow sugar-frosted gumdrops.  In a case at one end of the counter were squares of thick white paper covered with rows of small pink, also white, ‘peppermint buttons,’ small sticks, two inches in length, of chewing gum in waxed paper, a white, tasteless, crystalline substance resembling paraffine.  What longing eyes I frequently cast at the small scalloped cakes of maple sugar, prohibitive as regards cost.  They sold for a nickel, am I was always inordinately fond of maple sugar, but the price was prohibitive.  I seldom possessed more than a penny to spend in those days, and not always that.  Father raised a large family, money was never plentiful, and we relished the plain, cheap candies usually sold in those days more than many children of the present day do the finest and most expensive cream chocolates, to many of whom in this extravagant age a dollar is not valued more highly than was a penny by us in years gone by.  And ‘Candy Secrets!’ I don’t believe you know what they are like.  I’ve not seen any for years.  They were small, square pieces of taffy-like candy, wrapped in squares of gilt or silver paper, inclosing a small strip of paper containing a couple of sentimental lines or jingle.  Later came ‘French Secrets.’  They consisted of a small oblong piece of candy about an inch in length, wrapped in tissue paper of different colors, having fringed ends, twisted together at either end.  These also inclosed a tiny strip of paper containing a line or two.  Small, white candy hearts contained the words in pink letters, ‘Little Sweetheart,’ ‘I Love You,’ ‘Name the Day,’ etc.  These were invariably distributed among the young folks at small parties and created no end of merriment.”