rest. He was the biggest merchant in the town in my line. When I
reached his store he was putting the key in the door to lock up and go
home for his Thanksgiving dinner.

"I couldn't talk to him out there in the cold--we were strangers--so I
said to him, 'I should like to buy a couple of collars if you please.'
He sold me the collars and then, just for a bluff, I made out that
mine was hurting me and took a few minutes to put on another one. I
didn't say anything about what my business was and the merchant, in
order to have something to say, asked, 'Are you a stranger in town?'

"'Yes, sir,' said I, 'I am. But I hope that I shall not be very much
longer. I am out looking for a location.'

"'You are a physician, then?' said the merchant.

"'Yes, sir,--in a way,' said I; 'but I treat diseases in rather a
peculiar way, I fancy. I believe in going down to the cause of
diseases and treating the cause rather than the disease itself. My
specialty is the eye. Now, you see, if the eye looks at bright,
sparkling snow, it is strained; but if it looks at a green pasture,
that color rests it. In fact, if the eye looks upon anything that is
not pleasing to it, it does it an injury. Now, my way of getting down
to the root of all this eye trouble is to place before it things that
are pleasing to look upon, and in this way, make eye salves and things
of that kind unnecessary. In just a word,' said I (I had his attention
completely), 'I am selling the prettiest, nobbiest, most up-to-date
line of furnishing goods there is on the road. They are so attractive
that they are good for sore eyes. Now, the only way I can back up this
statement is by showing you what I have. When will it suit you to look