Her hopes and countenance fell together. "That's too high," she said with a sigh. "Then take this other blue; come--it's a great deal prettier than that dark one, and not so dear; and I know your mother will like it better." Ellen's cheeks were tingling and her heart throbbing, but she couldn't bear to give up. "Would you be so good as to show me some grey?" He slowly and ill-humouredly complied, and took down an excellent piece of dark grey, which Ellen fell in love with at once; but she was again disappointed; it was fourteen shillings. "Well, if you won't take that, take something else," said the man; "you can't have everything at once; if you will have cheap goods, of course you can't have the same quality that you like; but now here's this other blue, only twelve shillings, and I'll let you have it for ten if you'll take it." "No, it is too light and too coarse," said Ellen; "mamma wouldn't like it." "Let me see," said he, seizing her pattern and pretending to compare it; "it's quite as fine as this, if that's all you want." "Could you," said Ellen timidly, "give me a little bit of this grey to show mamma?" "Oh no!" said he impatiently, tossing over the cloths and throwing Ellen's pattern on the floor, "we can't cut up our goods; if people don't choose to buy of us they may go somewhere else, and if you cannot decide upon anything I must go and attend to those that can. I can't wait here all day." "What's the matter, Saunders?" said one of his brother clerks passing him. "Why, I've been here this half-hour showing cloths to a child that doesn't know merino from a sheep's back," said he, laughing. And some other customers coming up at the moment, he was as good as his word, and left Ellen, to attend to them.