“Oh, promise! certainly I will promise, Mr. Bob; nobody will promise more than I will—that is, I certainly will promise to keep the secret.” “Then let me tell you,” said he, in a low, solemn voice, hitching his chair at the same time nearer to the old woman, who sat with open mouth and staring eyes, eager to devour the wished-for secret: “These dollars of mine, you know, Mrs. Brown—” here he stopped, keeping her in the most provoking suspense imaginable. “Yes, yes; the dollars, the dollars.” “These dollars of mine, you know, Mrs. Brown, why they are dollars—hey?” “Yes, the dollars, the dollars; go on, go on—where do they come from? Mr. Bob, where do you get them?—where do you get them?” “Why, I get them somewhere, you know; but where do you think?” “Yes, yes, you get them somewhere; I always thought you got them somewhere: I always told everybody I knew you must get them somewhere.” “Very well, Mrs. Brown.” “Very well, Mr. Lee; but where do you get them? that is the question—you have not told me.” “Where do I get them,” said Bob, slowly and solemnly, and rubbing his hands together, screwing up his mouth, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, while the old lady was on the tenter-hooks of suspense and expectation. “Where do I get them? Now what do you think, Mrs. Brown, of my old black hen?” “Your old black hen! What do you mean?” “There’s the thing now! Then you never guessed, hey? Is it possible you never heard the story of the goose with the golden egg?” “To be sure,” replied Goody, opening her eyes wider than ever; “to be sure I have, to be sure, Mr. Bob—to be sure. But your hen, you know, is not a goose.” “That is very true, Mrs. Brown; but here is another question. If a goose can lay a golden egg, why can’t a hen lay a silver one?” “Sure enough, Mr. Lee, sure enough, sure enough,” said the old woman, beginning to get some light on the subject. “Sure enough, as you say. Now this black hen of mine—every day I go to the nest and find a silver dollar there!” “You amaze me, Bob!” said she, in the greatest astonishment. “Who would have thought it! Indeed! indeed! indeed! and is it true?” “Why, Mrs. Brown, if I do not get them there, where do I get them?” “Sure enough. Well, my stars! I almost knew it—I always thought there was something strange in the looks of that black hen.” “Ah, you are a cunning woman—but be sure you keep it a secret.” “To be sure, never fear me. A dollar a day! Who would have thought it! Bless me, what a lucky man! Do, Mr. Lee, let me see the nest; it must be very curious: I am dying to see it.” “Certainly, with all my heart; but let us see if there is nobody coming. Ah, step this way; I keep her in a snug place, you see, because if she should run away, what should I do for cash?”