CHAPTER VIII.
AN UNEXPECTED SET-BACK.
The next three days were busy ones for Matt and his newly-made partner. After they had drawn up and signed such papers as they deemed proper between themselves, they set out to look for a horse and wagon.
Andrew Dilks had cut several advertisements of bargains from the morning papers, and these they hunted up one after another.
The so-styled bargains proved to be more or less false. In nearly every instance they ran across some shrewd horse-dealer, who, under pretense of selling an outfit for a widow, or man who had left the city, tried to palm off on them an animal and wagon not worth taking away.
Late in the afternoon, however, when they were almost ready to give up and go to a regular dealer, they ran across a German baker who was selling out at a private sale.
"I vos go to Chermany next veek," he explained to the two. "Mine old fadder vos dead, and he vos left me all his land and houses in Bremen. See, I vos shown you der letter from der lawyers vot have his vill got."
And he produced a large letter-head, upon which was written a dozen lines in German, which neither could read.
"Never mind that," said Andrew. "Show us your horse and wagon, and set a bottom cash price on them."
"Come dis vay."
The baker led the way around the corner to a boarding-stable, and brought forth a good, chunky brown-and-white horse, that did not look to be over six years old.
"Stand around, Billy!" he cried. "Dere he vos, chentlemen, and chust so goot a horse as der vos in New York."
"Anything the matter with him?" asked Matt, as he began an examination of the animal.
"Not a ding, sir. He vos sound as a tollar, and chentle as a lamb. I vos use him on der bread route for a year and more."
"And where is the wagon?" questioned Andrew Dilks.
"Here vos der wagon," said the baker, as he ran the vehicle out so that they might look it over.
It was a four-wheeled affair, quite large and heavy. There was one seat in the center, and before and behind this were two big boxes, each with a hinged lid. In the rear was a rack for pies and cakes. There was also a box under the seat, and a money drawer which opened with a concealed push button.
"This is just the thing for us," whispered Andrew to Matt. "For a one-horse wagon, it could not be better arranged. The running gear seems to be in good condition, too."
"Vell, vot you dinks of them?" asked the baker, after they had finished their survey.
"Where is the harness?" asked Matt.
"Here she vos, new two veeks ago, and here vos der vip, too."
"And what is the lowest you can take for the rig?" asked Andrew. "We are willing to pay spot cash, but cannot afford a fancy figure."
"I vos sold der whole dings for dree hundred dollar."
At this announcement Matt's face fell. Three hundred dollars! It was more than they had to spend for both turnout and stock.
"Three hundred dollars," repeated Andrew Dilks. "If that's the case, we can't do business with you."
"Dot's too pad. How much you gif, hey?"
"We will give you a hundred and seventy-five."
At this announcement the German baker held up his hands in horror, and muttered a number of ejaculations in his native tongue.
"Make it two hundred and seventy-five," he said.
"We can't do it."
"Den take der turnout for two hundred and fifty."
"No, we can't do it," said Matt, and with a wink to Andrew Dilks, he pulled his companion toward the stable doors.
"Hold up!" shouted the baker, in alarm. "Don't go yet, chentlemen. Make dot figure two hundred and twenty-five, and it vos more as tog cheap at dot."
"Perhaps it is, but we can't afford to pay it."
"If I could haf der dime to sell, I vos got more as dot, chentlemen."
"Perhaps so," returned Matt. "But you haven't got to accept our offer, you know. We'll look around for something cheaper."
"You vill bay cash on der spot?"
"Yes; but you must give us a free and clear bill of sale."
"I vos do dot. Make it chust two hundred dollar."
But Andrew Dilks had set his mind on getting a further reduction, and at last the bargain was settled, and they paid over a hundred and ninety dollars for the turnout, leaving them still ten dollars to expend upon rubber blankets and other necessary articles.
The purchase completed, they made arrangements with the boarding-stable keeper to keep the horse and wagon for them until the following Monday morning. In the meantime they procured some paint, and painted over the baker's signs on the wagon, and then Andrew, who was a fair letterer, painted on each side of the wagon-cover the following:
THE EUREKA AUCTION COMPANY.
Best and Cheapest Goods on Earth.
"There, that ought to attract attention wherever we go," said Andrew when the job was finished. "The word company makes it sound big, and we can call ourselves a company as well as not."
On Friday and Saturday the two made a tour of the wholesale houses in New York, and Andrew expended the fifty dollars as judiciously as possible in the purchase of goods. As business was rather slow, and ready money scarce, he struck several decided bargains, especially in cutlery and musical instruments. He had all of the goods sent up to the stable, and the two worked until ten o'clock Saturday night stowing away all of the stock in their wagon.
"Now, we are all ready for the start on Monday morning," said Andrew as the two walked away from the stable.
"Yes, but we haven't decided where we shall go first yet," returned Matt.
"Let us leave that until the last minute. We know about where we are going, and it doesn't make much difference what villages we strike so long as we do the business."
Sunday passed quickly enough for Matt. He attended church and the Sunday-school into which Ida Bartlett had introduced him, and in the evening he packed his valise with all of his worldly possessions. Ida Bartlett also came over to bid him good-bv, and remained to give him such advice as he might have received from an elder sister.
Matt had arranged to meet Andrew at the stable at six o'clock sharp, and quarter of an hour before the appointed time found him on his way to the place, valise in hand.
"I'll show Andrew that I mean to be on time," he thought to himself, as he turned into the street upon which the stable was situated.
Suddenly he saw a crowd running up from the block below. There were at least a dozen men and boys, some of whom were shouting at the top of their lungs:
"Fire! fire!"
"Fire!" repeated Matt quickly. "I wonder where it can be?"
But hardly had he uttered the words than, happening to glance toward the stable in which their turnout was located, he saw a thick volume of smoke come pouring out of several of the upper windows.
"My gracious!" he gasped, his face blanching. "It's that stable, and our horse and wagon with the stock still inside!"
"That place is doomed!" said a man beside Matt. "See how the fire is gaining headway! They won't be able to save a single horse or anything else!"