Billy's bachelor apartment--or apartments, as he called his single room--was back of the store. There were his bed,--a huge, mahogany four-poster,--his library, his bath-tub, a half-dozen good pictures in oil and copper-plate, a pair of old fencing foils,--relics of his university days,--a piano, and a score of pipes. Under the bed was a flat leather trunk, and on the floor a rich, though worn, velvet carpet. Three or four miniatures on ivory rested on the rude mantel-shelf, and in the middle of the room stood a mahogany table covered with _Blackwood's Magazines_, pamphlets, letters, and books. In the midst of this confusion on the table stood a pair of magnificent gold candlesticks, each holding a half-burned candle, and over all was a mantle of dust that would have driven a woman mad. Certainly the contents of Billy's "apartments" was an incongruous collection to find in a log-cabin of the wilderness. At the end of half an hour Billy called to Dic, saying:-- "I wish you would watch the store for me. I'm going to my apartments for a bit. If Mrs. Hawkins comes in, give her this bottle of calomel and this bundle of goods. The calomel is a fippenny bit; the goods is four shillin', but I don't suppose she'll want to pay for them. Don't take coonskins. I won't have coonskins. If I can't sell my goods for cash, I'll keep 'em. Butter and eggs will answer once in a while, if the customer is poor and has no money, but I draw the line on coonskins. The Hawkinses always have coonskins. I believe they breed coons, but they can't trade their odoriferous pelts to me. If she has them, tell her to take them to Hackett's. He'll trade for fishing worms, if she has any, and then perhaps get more than his shoddy goods are worth. Well, here's the calomel and the goods. Get the cash or charge them. There's a letter in the C box for Seal Coble. Give it to Mrs. Hawkins, and tell her to hand it to Seal as she drives past his house. Tell her to read it to the old man. He doesn't know _a_ from _x_. I doubt if Mrs. Hawkins does. But you can tell her to read it--it will flatter her. I'll return when I'm ready. Meantime, I don't want to be disturbed by any one. Understand?" "Yes," answered Dic, and the worthy merchant disappeared, locking the door behind him.