An' I didn't want to bother you, knowin' that you hadn't any money to spare, 'cause the mother told me 'bout that too, an' cried about it.

Well, it blowed like ev'rythin' this afternoon as I was goin' towards Price's, an' that string of shoes just whirled around like a kite-tail, an' at last the bottom pair flew off into the street.

An' I picked 'em up." "Findin's is keepin's," said Mrs.Kimper.
"Give me them shoes, my boy," said the ex-convict.
"You're goin' to take 'em away from me?
Have I got to have cold feet some more ?" said Billy, appealingly.
Sam thrust his hand into his trousers-pocket, took out a very thin wad of green paper, looked at it, and finally said, "No, I s'pose not." Nevertheless he and the shoes disappeared from the house.
In a short time Mr.Price, the owner of one of the village stores, received a call from the ex-convict, who said,-- "Mr.Price, one o' my boys found a pair o' shoes in the street in front o' your store this afternoon durin' the hard blow, an', as they just fitted him, I came around to pay you for them.

How much are they ?" Several men were standing about the stove in Price's store, the fire having just started for the autumn and winter season, and, as they heard Sam's remark, one of them uttered a long combination of word and whistle that sounded very much like "Whew-w ?" Sam turned quickly, recognized the man as one whom he knew to be not over-honest, and said,-- "When _you_ pay for ev'rythin' you get it'll be time to make fun of somebody else.

But, Mr.Price, what I asked you was, what's the price o' them shoes ?" The storekeeper was so astonished at such a question from a member of the Kimper family that, looking at shoes of the same quality which were lying in a box behind the counter, he actually mistook the cost-mark for the selling-price, and replied, "Only a dollar and a quarter, Mr.
Kimper." Sam laid down the money, received some change, and departed, while the men who were lounging about the store began an active conversation as to whether that man was the fool he looked or whether he was not perhaps a regular sharper whose natural abilities and inclinations had been cultivated during the two years he was in State prison.