CHAPTER XXIV.
THE OLD STORE ON THE RIDGE ROAD.
Aunt Sarah found in Mary a willing listener when talking of the time in years past when her grandfather kept a small "Country Store" on the Ridge Road in Bucks County.

She also remembered, when a child of ten, accompanying her grandfather on one of his trips when he drove to Philadelphia to purchase goods for his store.
"They had no trolley cars in those days ?" asked Mary.
"No, my dear, neither did they have steam cars between the different towns and cities as we have now." "At grandfather's store could be bought both groceries and dry goods.
The surrounding farmers' wives brought to the store weekly fresh print butter, eggs, pot cheese and hand-case, crocks of apple-butter, dried sweet corn, beans, cherries, peach and apple 'Snitz,' taking in exchange sugar, starch, coffee, molasses, etc.

My father tapped his sugar maples and mother cooked down the syrup until thick, and we used that in place of molasses.

They also took in exchange shaker flannel, nankeen, indigo blue and 'Simpson' gray calico, which mother considered superior to any other, both for its washing and wearing qualities.

The farmers who came occasionally to the store to shop for different members of the family frequently bought whole pieces of calico of one pattern, and," affirmed Aunt Sarah, "I knew of one farmer who bought several whole pieces of one pattern with rather large figures on a dark wine ground, resembling somewhat the gay figures on an old paisley shawl.