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224 "Yo? don't want to sell me any chain?" repeated the colored man.

"Not to-night."

"Why not?"

"This isn't chain night. I'm selling harmonicas and banjos."

"Well, let's see some banjos den," put in another of the negroes, and he winked at his companions, thinking that Matt had become too scared to refer to the broken show-case again.

"All right, but I don't want any more showcases broken," returned the young auctioneer.

He took a banjo from one of the cases and began to tune it up slowly.

"Kin yo' play us a jig?" asked one of the colored men, while the white people in the place looked on in wonder at the turn affairs had taken.

"Oh, yes, I can play a jig," returned Matt coolly.

"Den give us one now."

"You will have to wait until I am done tuning up, gentlemen."

"All right, we'll wait."

Matt tuned up more slowly than ever, and even allowed one of the strings to break that he might gain an extra minute in repairing the damage. At