His excuse for so doing had been characteristic.
"I can't stand the wear and tear on my morals," he told Ruth.

"I ain't sold anything, except through the mail, since the winter really set in.

And yet every time that bell rings I find myself jumpin' up and runnin' to wait on a customer.

When it turns out to be Gabe Bearse or somebody like him I swear, and swearin' to me is like whiskey to some folks--comfortin' but demoralizin'." So the bell having been removed, Jed did not hear the person who came into and through the outer shop.

The first sign of that person's presence which reached his ears was an unpleasant chuckle.
He turned, to see Mr.Phineas Babbitt standing in the doorway of the inner room.